»EltK6lEY    \ 

LIBRARY    I 

CALIFORNIA    J 


'X 


GLOSSARY 


SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 


COLLECTED    BY 


ALFRED   L.  ELWYN,  M.D. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.   B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO. 
1859. 


LOAN  STACB^ 


ES 


PREFACE, 


This  little  work  was  undertaken  to  show  liow  much  there 
yet  remains,  in  this  country,  of  language  and  customs  directly 
brought  from  our  remotest  ancestry.  It  has  been  the 
assumed  privilege  of  English  travelers  and  authors  to  twit 
us  upon  the  supposed  peculiarity  and  oddity  in  our  use  of 
words  and  phrases.  An  examination  of  the  language  of 
their  own  country  has  convinced  us  that  this  satire  was  the 
result  of  ignorance :  those  who  made  it  were  unacquainted 
with  the  language  and  early  literature  of  their  own  people, 
and  thence  very  naturally  supposed  that  what  they  heard 
here  was  affected,  coined,  or  barbarous.  The  simple  truth  is, 
that  almost  without  exception  all  those  words  or  phrases 
that  we  have  been  ridiculed  for  using,  are  good  old  English ; 
many  of  them  are  of  Anglo-Saxon  origin,  and  nearly  all  to  be 
heard  at  this  day  in  England :  a  difference  of  circumstances 
may  have  altered  a  little  their  application,  but  still  not 
enough  to  render  our  mode  of  employing  them  at  all  absurd. 
It  is,  indeed,  remarkable  that  we  have  made  no  violent  or 
outrageous  alterations.  It  is  another  testimony  to  the  almost 
inflexible  tenacity  with  which  people  hold  to  their  language 

(iii) 


491 


IV  PREFACE. 

and  tlieir  liabits.  In  our  case  it  is,  no  doubt,  owing  to 
our  remote  situation  tliat  has  prevented  us  feeling  all  those 
fluctuations  that  come  in  the  progress  of  an  improving  civili- 
zation and  the  questionable  innovations  of  fashion  ;  and  it  is 
perhaps  not  far  from  the  fact,  that  if  one  wished  to  know 
how  English  was  spoken  two  hundred  years  ago,  in  England, 
he  would  find  it  out  sooner  by  a  visit  to  New  than  by  any  at- 
tempts at  discovery  in  Old  England.  The  Yankees,  or  New 
Euglanders,  preserve,  to  a  great  extent,  the  mode  of  speak- 
ing of  their  pilgrim  parents;  while  in  the  land  of  their 
fathers  that  has  sunk  into  the  obsolete,  or  subsided  among 
the  dialects  and  provincialisms.  This  remark  will  not  be 
true  much  longer.  The  general  spread  of  education,  and  the 
frequent  intercourse  between  all  parts  of  the  country  and  all 
portions  of  society,  is  rapidly  cutting  away  all  peculiarities, 
and  producing  a  gradual  assimilation  in  all  directions.  TVe 
have  none  of  those  secluded  spots,  so  common  in  England 
even  now,  where,  as  if  by  a  Chinese  w'all,  the  outward  pro- 
gress of  improvement  is  stayed,  and  a  barricade  is  reared 
against  the  irruption  of  new  feelings  or  new  fashions.  These 
are  the  strongholds  of  antiquity ;  but  we  have  none  of  them : 
a  few  years  will  erase  every  trace  of  the  manner  of  speaking 
that  has  spread  from  Plymouth  Eock  over  an  empire.  The 
peculiarities  to  which  we  have  alluded  are  almost  exclusively 
confined  to  New  England.  Her  origin  is  purely  English  ;  the 
small  amount  of  Irish  or  Scotch  will  not  detract  from  the 
truth  of  this  assertion ;  and  it  is  among  her  people  that  we 
are  to  look  for  those  peculiar  modes  of  speaking  which  distin- 
guish her  from  her  sister  States,  and  as  the  true  descendants 


PREFACE.  V 

of  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors.  In  other  parts  of  tlie  country, 
the  language  lias  been  modified  by  immigrants  and  by  tlie  mix- 
ture of  different  nations,  or  from  the  class  of  immigrants  being 
different  from  those  who  peopled  New  England.  Although 
we  have  Dutch,  Germans,  Swedes,  French,  Spanish,  Scotch, 
and  Irish,  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  yet  the  English 
language  suffers  but  little,  if  at  all,  from  this  heterogeneous 
mixture.  The  only  difference  as  to  language  between  any 
part  where  other  than  English  have  settled,  and  New  Eng- 
land, is,  that  among  the  first  there  are  fewer  of  what  are 
known  here  as  Yankee  peculiarities,  or  those  words  and 
terms  brought  with  them  by  the  Puritans.  A  New  Eng- 
lauder  is  known  anywhere  in  the  United  States  as  readily  by 
his  manner  of  speaking,  as  a  Scotchman  would  be  in  Lon- 
don; not  only  his  pronunciation  is  different,  but  his  ac- 
cent and  his  words.  Even  those  who  have  the  advantage 
of  a  liberal  education  preserve  some  peculiarity.  Some  of 
those  who  do  not  only  New  England  honor,  but  the  country, 
retain  something  by  which  they  are  distinguished.  Put  is 
pronounced  with  the  u  short,  as  in  cut.  There  is  an  occa- 
sional nasality,  and  an  accent,  and  words  are  used  that  are 
not  used  at  all  out  of  New  England,  or  known  only  as  Yan- 
kee peculiarities.  Dr.  Johnson  is  an  example  of  how  firmly 
these  local  or  provincial  peculiarities  adhere  to  a  man,  how- 
ever thorough  his  knowledge  of  his  own  language  may  be. 
He  always  pronounced  ''punch"  poonc/i,  being  the  mode  of 
his  county,  Staffordshire,  or  of  that  part  where  he  was  born. 
In  the  Middle  States,  or  the  oldest  parts  of  them,  where 
Dutch  and  Swedes  preceded  the  English,  though  we  may  de- 
1* 


VI  PREFACE. 

tect  some  distinguisliing  characteristic,  yet  there  are  but  few 
in  comparison  with  New  England,  and  those  are  confined  al- 
most entirely  to  pronunciation ;  there  are  few  of  what  may 
be  termed   provincialisms  in  use,  and  still  fewer  of  those 
words  and  phrases  that  carry  us  back  to  the  earliest  periods 
of  the  English  language.     If  we  keep  along  the  Atlantic, 
and  go  South,  where  the  original  settlers  were  as  much  Eng- 
lish as  those  of  New  England,  and  where  there  had  been  a 
very  small  intermixture  of  any  other  people,  though  there 
are  marked  peculiarities,  yet  they  are  still  more  those  of  ac- 
cent and  pronunciation  than  of  the  language.     'We  know  of 
no  way  of  distinguishing  a  citizen  of  Delaware  or  Maryland, 
though  we  may  know  them  to  be  of  the  South ;  but  a  Vir- 
ginian has  his   Shibboleth,  that  at  once  makes  him  known 
as  readily  as  if  his  birth-place  were  printed  on  his  back.     His 
walk  difiers  from  the  rest  of  his  fellow-citizens,  and  he  has  a 
round,  rolling,  superfluity  of  speech,  and  puts  more  letters 
into  his  words  than  is  necessary  or  authorized  by  Webster. 
*'By"  is  bcT/,  "God"  is  Geord,  (which  may  arise  from  some 
peculiar  habit,  that  makes  it  necessary  for  them  to  open 
their  mouths  wider  than  the  rest  of  mankind,  and  causes 
that    kind    of   large   oral    expression   by   which   they   are 
so   easily  recognized.)      If   we   cross    the   Alleghanies  we 
have  another  nation,  made  from  the  same  material  as  their 
older  kinsmen,  but  still  differing  with  their  different  circum- 
stances.    The  people  of  Ohio,  who  are  largely  derived  from 
Yankees,  are  not  remarkable  for  possessing  their  peculiarities. 
The  great  number  of  modern  English  and  other  foreigners 
who  have  mingled  with  the  settlers  from  New  England,  have 


PREFACE.  Vll 

broken  down  any  Yankeeisms  that  might  otherwise  have 
established  themselves  there.  Indiana  and  Illinois  contain 
nothing'  peculiar,  nor  perhaps  Tennessee ;  but  Kentucky  is 
as  marked  as  its  progenitor,  Yirginia.  The  people  of  that 
State  have  not  only  preserved  their  ancestral  oddities,  but 
multiplied  them.  Their  very  peculiar  circumstances  have 
grafted  a  new  and  original  language  on  the  English  they  car- 
ried with  them.  The  want,  for  many  years,  of  places  of  edu- 
cation, of  intercourse  with  the  older  cis-Alleghany  communi- 
ties, and  the  isolation  in  which  individuals  lived,  even  among 
themselves,  produced  new  and  strange  modes  of  expression. 
With  the  rapid  growth  of  population,  the  increase  of  wealth, 
and  improvement  in  all  the  arts  of  civilized  life,  all  that  is 
passing  away  ;  and  the  West,  from  the  immigration  of  a  more 
modern  class,  from  its  want  of  old  associations  and  attach- 
ments to  the  past,  will  soon  be  without  any  of  those  distin- 
guishing peculiarities  in  language  that  belong  to,  and  will  for 
a  long  time  adhere  to,  their  Northern  kindred.  Notwith- 
standing certain  words  and  phrases  may  be  found  in  this 
country,  yet  we,  having  nothing  that  approaches  a  dialect,  all 
those  are  old  words  and  old  English,  or  far  the  larger  por- 
tion, and  we  have  nothing  of  what  may  be  called  a  "patois," 
either  indigenous  or  imported. 

The  Yankees  use  old  English  words,  such  as  are  as  old  as 
Chaucer,  and  which  may  now  be  heard  in  England  in  those 
districts  where  "modern  degeneracy  has  not  reached  them" 
,  and  driven  them  out.  This  is  the  great  distinction  between 
this  country  and  England.  There,  in  almost  every  county, 
there  is  a  particular  language,  which  is  hardly  understood  by 


VUl  PREFACE. 

its  adjoining  neighbor ;  here  we  have  nothing  like  this.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Boucher  only  distinguished  two  distinct  divisions  or 
dialects  of  the  English  language  in  England,  the  North  and 
the  West ;  though,  as  we  have  just  said,  every  county  has 
its  own  mode  of  speaking,  which  may,  however,  according 
to  the  above  gentleman,  be  considered  as  subsided  particles 
from  some  one  of  those  divisions.  But  between  the  North 
and  West,  the  difference  of  language  is  so  thorough,  that  a 
native  of  the  one  cannot  understand  the  native  of  the  other. 
A  Cumberland  or  Westmoreland  peasant  could  as  well  con- 
verse with  a  Frenchman  as  with  a  Somersetshireman,  and 
these  two  would  be  equally  perplexed  at  meeting  a  Norfolk, 
Suffolk,  or  Cambridgeshireman.  An  interpreter  would  be  as 
necessary  as  with  one  of  our  tribes  of  Indians.  This  is  true 
of  smaller  and  nearer  divisions  than  counties ;  it  may  be 
found  in  districts,  or  minute  parts  of  counties.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Carr,  author  of  a  work  on  the  "Craven  Dialect,"  says: 
"Though  the  dialect  of  the  whole  of  this  district  (Craven)  be 
somewhat  similar,  there  are  still  shades  of  difference  in  its  pro- 
nunciation; and  many  expressions  and  archaisms  may  be  re- 
tained in  one  parish  which  are  unknown  or  nearly  obsolete  in 
another."  This  district  is  a  part  of  Yorkshire,  thirty  miles 
long  by  about  as  many  broad,  containing  twenty-five  parishes 
and  61,859  inhabitants ;  and  yet,  small  as  it  is,  the  people 
probably  find  it  difficult  to  understand  each  other.  But  there 
are  other  parts  of  Yorkshire  where  other  dialects  are  found, 
Hallamshire,  Halifax,  etc.,  so  that  this  county  seems  to  have 
as  many  tongues  as  the  Indian  tribes  of  this  country;  and 
in  Somersetshire  we  have  the  Exmoor  dialect,  which  is  unin- 


PREFACE.  IX 

telligible  to  the  rest  of  the  county,  though  it  is  but  a  very 
small  part;  and  in  both  of  these  places  the  language  has 
changed  but  little,  if  at  all,  for  centuries.  Mr.  Carr  asserts 
"that  the  lapse  of  more  than  four  centuries  has  had  little 
effect  upon  the  language,  that  at  the  present  day,  and  at  the 
very  same  spot,  (Langstroth,)  the  Craven  dialect  is  spoken  in 
the  like  degree  of  purity  as  it  was  in  the  days  of  Chaucer ;" 
and  from  the  want  of  some  standard  in  common  conversation,  a 
disposition  exists  to  coin  words  for  the  occasion.  This  remark- 
able state  of  things  must  be  understood  to  exist  only  among 
the  lower  classes ;  the  better  educated,  except  by  some  slight 
accent,  would  hardly  be  distinguished  wherever  they  might 
be  born.  This  is  a  strong  argument  in  favor  of  the  respecta- 
ble station  in  society  of  our  ancestors,  that  they  appear  to 
have  brought  with  them  none  of  these  dialects,  but  spoke  the 
common  English  of  the  day.  Many  were  from  Cornwall, 
that  has  or  had  a  language  of  its  own,  which  was  spoken 
among  its  lower  classes  till  within  fifty  years,  though  now  it 
is  said  to  be  entirely  obliterated.  Many  were  from  Devon- 
shire, which,  though  it  possessed  no  distinct  language,  yet 
had  a  peculiar  way  of  speaking  English,  that  still  remains ; 
and,  in  traveling  through  that  county,  a  Yankee  feels  almost 
at  home,  from  the  similarity  between  the  language,  accent, 
etc.  of  its  people  and  those  of  his  own  country;  but  in 
other  parts  of  England,  he  recognizes  very  little  that  pro- 
duces this  feeling  of  being  at  home  ;  while  in  Cumberland 
or  Westmoreland,  he  would  faDcy  himself  among  people  as 
remote  from  English  as  if  among  the  Esquimaux.  It  would 
not  be  easy,  if  we  take  words  as  the  indices  of  one's  place 


X  PREFACE. 

of  descent,  to  decide  from  the  various  glossaries,  whence  the 
larger  number  of  the  first  settlers  of  this  country  came ; 
that  is,  whether  from  one  part  of  England  more  than  another. 
Almost  every  glossary  contains  some  of  those  words  now  in 
use  in  New  England,  though,  on  the  whole,  the  North  of  Eng- 
land's vocabulary  contains  the  most,  and  the  East  Anglia  the 
next  largest  number.  From  the  West  of  England  ports,  be- 
ing, at  the  time  of  the  pilgrimage  of  the  Puritans,  those  of 
the  most  business,  large  numbers  sailed ;  but  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  the  people  of  that  quarter  were,  from  that  cause, 
induced  to  come  here  more  than  from  any  other  district. 
Devonshire  never  appears  to  have  been  much  troubled  with 
religion  or  political  contention.  Her  population  being  agri- 
cultural, and  withdrawn  from  the  strifes  of  the  more  thickly 
populated  districts,  seem  always  to  have  been  too  comfortable 
to  feel  the  necessity  of  immigration.  It  is  the  same  now,  and 
an  immigrant  from  that  quarter  is  an  uncommon  person.  Still, 
there  must  have  been  considerable  numbers,  from  some  cause 
or  other,  found  their  way  to  this  country  from  that  county. 
And  it  is  proper  to  draw  such  an  inference  from  the  similarity 
we  have  mentioned  existing  between  that  part  of  England 
and  New  England,  in  tone  and  accent.  The  shrill  tone  of 
voice  that  has  been  observed  among  our  people  is  a. North 
of  England  peculiarity,  or,  to  speak  with  more  propriety,  be- 
longs to  certain  parts  of  the  North.  The  nasality  that  is 
also  charged  to  us  may  be  a  remnant  of  that  whine  which 
was  considered  as  distinguishing  Roundheads  from  Cava- 
liers, and  as  adopted  by  the  Puritans,  perhaps  as  expres- 
sive of  submission  and  sanctity — it  being  certainly  a  tone 


PREFACE.  XI 

far  removed  from  the  free,  open,  bold,  bluff  speecb  of  their 
opponents.  The  frequent  use,  too,  of  the  phraseology  of 
Scripture,  as  if  in  opposition  to  the  more  secular  discourse  of 
courtiers  and  cavaliers,  preserved  this  peculiarity ;  and  it  is 
not  unlikely  that  this  custom  has  also  preserved  the  old 
words  and  old  customs,  by  keeping  up  in  the  mind  of  each 
generation  a  sense  of  being  distinct  in  character  and  origin 
from  any  other  portion  of  the  continent.  There  is,  however, 
a  small  share  of  nasality  at  the  South,  which  must  be  ac- 
counted for  in  some  other  way,  as  her  peculiarities  are  cer- 
tainly not  from  Puritanism.  It  may  come  from  the  climate, 
that  from  its  relaxing  effects  produces  a  languor  and  indo- 
lence, through  which  the  air  from  the  lungs,  instead  of  being 
ejected  strongly  and  vigorously  from  the  mouth,  warbles  with 
a  faint  emission  by  the  nose.  But  the  chief  reason  why  we 
have,  and  continue  to  have,  the  various  strange  and  odd  modes 
of  using  language  and  of  utterance,  is,  that  we  have  no  stand- 
ard for  either.  The  people  of  England  have  Parliament, 
filled  with  men  of  the  best  education,  to  be  their  standard ; 
the  people  of  this  country  will  hardly  look  to  their  National 
Legislature  for  an  example  in  the  use  of  language  or  of  na- 
tional refinement. 


GLOSSARY 

OF 

SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 


Able,  for  rich,  as  ''he  is  accounted  very  dbUy  I  have 
only  heard  this  word  in  Chester  County,  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

A  Company-keeper,  Holloway  says,  means,  in  Nor- 
folk, a  lover.  To  "keep  company,"  is  the  phrase  in 
New  England,  among  a  certain  class,  for  what  is 
called  courting,  or,  among  the  very  refined,  address- 
ing. I  have  never  heard  this  expression,  a  "com- 
pany-keeper." 

Admire.  This  word  may  be  frequently  heard  in  the 
sense  of  "I  should  like;"  as,  "I  should  admire  to  see 
him;  to  go  to  Rome,"  etc.  ;  but,  I  believe,  confined  to 
New  England.  In  the  sense  of  to  "wonder  at,"  as,  "  I 
admire  at  you,"  it  may  sometimes  be  heard ;  for  this 
there  is  the  authority  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,  in 
the  "Nice  Yalour:"  "The  m.ore  I  admire  your  flinti- 
ness." 

Afeard,  for  afraid.  This  word,  that  most  suppose  to 
be  a  corruption  of  afraid,  is  an  old  Saxon  word,  and 
2  (13) 


14  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

used  frequently  by  Shakspeare,  who  does  not  use  the 
other. 

Ste.  Ila!  I  have  not  'scaped  drovrning,  to  be  afeard  now 
of  your  four  legs ! 

Trin.  Be  not  afeard, — thy  good  friend,  Ti'inculo. 

Ste.  He  ^that  dies,  pays  all  debts :  I  defy  thee :  mercy 
upon     us. 

Cal.  Art  thou  afeard? 

Ste.  No,  monster,  not  I. 

Cal.  Be  not  afeard;  the  isle  is  full  of  noises. — Tempest. 

For  be  he  lewed  man  or  elles  lered, 

He  n'ot  how  soon  that  he  shall  ben  afered. 

Chaucer:  Doctoure's  Tale,  line  12,218. 

Was  the  gentleman  afeard  to  declare  his  matters  openly  ? 

Beu.  and  Fletcher's  Night  Walker. 

Afore,  for  before;  now  only  heard  among  the  unedu- 
cated, was  used  by  Chaucer  ;  also,  afore  long,  for  ere 
long.  This  is  in  the  Craven  Dialect.  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  "Night  Walker :"  "Go  you  afore,  and  let 
the  ladies  follow."  The  word  is  universally  used  in 
these  authors. 

Agean,  or  AGIN,  for  against,  in  old  English,  agen.  "Agin 
that  time  come,"  may  be  heard  in  the  country  every 
day.  Agin  for  again  is  also  common  :  "  try  it  agin.^^ 
Also  for  against :  "it  stands  agin  that  door."  It  is 
used  in  several  parts  of  England  in  the  same  way. 

Aggravate,  to  irritate.  Forby,  in  his  "Vocabulary 
of  East  Anglia,"  has  this  word  as  common  in  several 
parts  of  England.  "  He  aggravated  my  temper,"  I 
have  often  heard  in  New  England. 


GLOSSARY  OP   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  15 

A  KINK.  A  person  odd,  eccentric,  and  not  easily  un- 
derstood by  commonplace  people,  is  said  to  have  a 
kink.  It  is  known  in  England  and  here  in  this  sense, 
but  is  used  there  in  others  altogether  unknown  here. 
"A  kink  in  one's  neck,"  is  common  to  both  countries; 
but  "(2  kink  of  laughter,"  is  peculiar  to  the  Old  Coun- 
try.    A  spell  of  laughter  is  our  word. 

Alley,  among  several  other  meanings,  has  that  of  a 
,  marble.  "A  white  alley, ^^  may  be  heard  from  every 
school-boy  in  the  marble  season.  It  is  an  abbrevia- 
tion of  alabaster,  of  which  these  toys  were  once 
made. 

All  hollow.  He  beat  him  hollow,  or  he  was  beaten 
all  holloiv,  are  both  common  here.  Its  derivation  is 
not  clear,  unless  hollow  be  a  corruption  of  wholly. 
Some  old  writers  spell  it  holly,  and  hole  (whole.) 

All  one.  This  is  a  common  expression  for  indiffer- 
ence, as,  "it  is  all  one  to  me."  Skelton's  phrase,  ''we 
are  all  one,^^  meaning  we  are  all  of  one  mind,  is  in 
use  as  we  are  all  one  on  that  point. 

Allow.  I  have  only  found  this  in  "  Tom  Clodpole's 
Journey  to  Lunnun,"  one  of  those  various  dialectic 
poems  which  adorn  English  literature. 

*'  He  ^loioed  he  ge  me  half  a  crown, 
And  treat  me  wud  sum  beer, 
If  I  wud  make  it  up  wud  him, 
And  let  un  goo  off  clear." 

This  establishes  it  as  an  old  Sussex  provincialism.  In 
the  County  of  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  there  is  a  use 
of  this  word  that  seems  peculiar ;  it  is  rather  in  the 


16  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

sense  of  assent  than  admit.  "  He  alloiced  that  he 
would  come  from  town  on  Thursday,"  in  the  sense  of 
he  thought  it  probable.  "Do  you  think  he  can  finish 
that  work  to  day  ?"     ''  He  allows  that  he  can." 

All  i'  BITS.  (Craven  Glossary.)  The  Yankees  say  all 
to  bits,  as,  "it  was  stove  all  to  bits.^^  All  to  pieces, 
as  a  synonym,  we  often  hear;  it  is  a  Suffolk  expression. 

All  that's  left  of  him.  This  phrase,  that  we  often 
hear,  is  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "Thierry  and 
Theodoret:"— 

"  De  Vitry,  I  take  it." 

Be  V.  "All  ihafsleft  of  him." 

The  very  form  in  which  we  so  often  hear  it.  Shak- 
speare  has  a  similar  expression  in  "Hamlet." 

Anan.  Is  used  often  by  Natty  Bumppo ;  but  only  occa- 
sionally heard,  so  far  as  my  experience  goes,  among 
his  countrymen  of  the  present  day.  It  is  common  in 
England,  instead  of  ivhat,  or  what  do  you  say,  and  I 
have  heard  it  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania. 

Anent.  (Derbyshire  and  North  of  England.)  I  have 
heard  this  word,  in  this  country,  from  a  farmer  of 
Chester  County,  Pennsylvania.  His  ancestors  came 
from  Staffordshire.  It  is  also  used  in  Scotland,  though 
asserted  in  Johnson's  Dictionary  to  be  of  Saxon  ori- 
gin. Also,  for enent,  may  be  heard  sometimes  in  this 
quarter. 

Apple-pie  order.  (Craven  Glossary.)  This  common 
phrase  I  met  in  no  other  provincial  glossary.  It  is 
common  in  New  England.  "  Things  were  in  apple- 
pie  order,"  meaning  neatly  arranged. 


GLOSSARY  OP  SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  It 

As.  This  is  often  used  for  the  relative  that:  "Nobody 
as  I  heard  on,"  A  Herefordshire  glossary  gives  it 
in  the  same  sense. 

As  LEAN  AS  A  RAKE.  This  common  expression  has 
kept  its  place  since  Chaucer.  Skelton  has  it,  too. 
Whether  rake  means  here  one  emaciated  by  disease, 
or  the  implement  known  to  all,  or  a  cur  dog,  as  Dr. 
Johnson  has  it,  we  will  not  decide. 

Ater,  for  after,  is  used  in  England,  and  we  have  in- 
herited it,  whether  an  old  word  or  not.  I  do  not 
know  whether  it  is  employed  by  any  old  writer. 

Ax,  for  ask,  so  common  in  this  country,  and  supposed 
to  be  a  corruption,  is  pure  Saxon,  and  used  by  some 
of  the  best  old  English  writers.  Chaucer  spells  it  axe. 
Acisan  is  the  Ansrlo-Saxon. 


'»' 


B. 

Bace,  or  BASE.  Prison  base,  or  bars,  was  a  game 
played  by  school-boys  in  our  time,  and  is  probably  still 
played  in  New  England ;  it  is  an  old  amusement,  and 
is  mentioned  by  Spenser  and  Shakspeare.  It  appears 
to  exist  still  in  England,  and  Nare's  Glossary  gives 
an  account  of  it.  Our  manner  of  playing  it  was  much 
changed  from  that  of  our  ancestors.  There  were  no 
opposite  parties  in  our  game,  but  the  boys  separated 
from  a  certain  goal,  or  base,  leaving  one  of  their 
number  at  it;  at  a  given  signal  he  was  to  go  in 
search  of  them,  and  pursue  and  if  possible  overtake 
one,  who  then  took  his  place  at  the  goal ;  but  if  all 
2* 


18  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

got  back  to  the  base  without  being  touched,  then  the 
same  boy  must  take  his  chance  again.  Its  great 
amusement  was  in  being  a  trial  of  speed.  Strutt 
says  that  it  was  known  as  early  as  the  time  of 
Edward  III. 

Bad,  or  badly,  for  sichness.  "I  feel  quite  6a<i,"  is  a 
common  expression  in  this  country.  The  comparative 
hadder  is  a  Saxon  word ;  though  it  would  be  used 
now  only  by  the  ignorant. 

Baginet,  for  bayonet.  (Jenning's  Dialects  of  the  West 
of  England.)  We  often  have  this  word  pronounced 
this  way  in  this  country. 

Ball.  This,  as  a  source  of  amusement,  is  as  old  as 
Homer.  The  daughter-of  Alcinous  played  ball  with 
her  maidens,  after  a  sea-bath,  on  the  shores  of  her 
father's  island,  of  which  the  account  in  the  Odyssey, 
with  the  attending  circumstances,  is  very  pretty  and 
'  enticing.  It  appears  to  have  been  .known  in  England 
more  than  six  hundred  years.  Few  of  the  games  of 
ball  in  this  country  are  the  same  as  those  in  England. 
The  one  we  used  to  call  ''bat  and  6aZ/,"  may  be  an 
imperfect  form  of  cricket,  though  we  played  this  in  the 
same  or  nearly  the  same  manner  as  in  England,  which 
would  make  it  probable  that  the  "bat  and  balV^  was 
a  game  of  Yankee  invention.  It  was  played  in  this 
way':  sides  were  chosen,  not  limited  to  any  particular 
number,  though  seldom  more  than  six  or  eight ;  the 
toss  up  of  a  cent  decided  who  should  have  the  first 
innings.  The  individual  who  was  first  chosen,  of  the 
side  that  was  in,  took  the  bat  and  his  position  at  a  cer- 


GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  19 

tain  assigned  spot.  One  of  his  adversaries  stood  at  a 
given  distance  in  front  of  him  to  throw  the  hall,  and 
another  behind  him  to  throw  back  the  hall  if  it  were 
not  struck,  or  to  catch  it,  or  in  any  way  to  assist  in 
getting  the  advantage  of  his  opponents.  After  the 
hall  was  struck,  the  striker  was  to  run ;  stones  were 
placed  some  thirty  or  forty  feet  apart,  in  a  circle,^ 
and  he  was  to  touch  each  one  of  them,  till  he  got 
back  to  the  front  from  which  he  started.  If  the  hall 
was  caught  by  any  of  the  opposite  party  who  were 
in  the  field,  or,  if  not  caught,  was  thrown  at  and  hit 
the  boy  who  was  trying  to  get  back  to  his  starting 
place,  their  party  was  in;  and  the  boy  who  caught  the 
hall,  or  hit  his  opponent,  took  his  bat.  A  good  deal 
of  the  fun  and  excitement  consisted  in  the  hall  not 
having  been  struck  to  a  sufficient  distance  to  admit 
of  the  striker  running  round  before  the  hall  was  in 
the  hands  of  his  adversaries.  If  his  successor  struck 
it,  he  must  run,  and  take  his  chance,  evading  the  hall 
as  well  as  he  could  by  falling  down  or  dodging  it. 
While  at  the  goals  he  could  not  be  touched;  only 
in  the  intervals  between  them.  Trap-hall  was  not 
common,  but  sometimes  seen.  "Cat"  was  common. 
Strutt  mentions  three  forms  of  this  game;  we  only 
played  one.  Moor  gives  kit-kat  as  a  common  game 
in  Suffolk,  which  appears  the  same  as  our  "cat,"  ex- 
cept that  it  is  played  with  a  stick,  while  we  used  the 
hall.  Foot-hall  was  also  common;  and  to  some,  the 
writer  among  the  number,  the  most  exciting  of  all 
the    boyish    sports.     It    brought   out,    occasionally. 


20  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

pretty  ferocious  feelings,  and  led  to  frequent  combats, 
as  no  boy  liked  a  severe  kick  without  making  some  re- 
turn ;  and  very  naturally  mistook  a  sharp  blow  on  the 
shin  as  a  personal  offence.  There  was  also  a  game 
of  nine-holes,  with  the  hall.  Strutt  has  a  game  of 
this  name,  but  in  no  way  the  same.  Fives  I  have 
seen  here,  but  never  in  New  England.  These  are  all 
the  games  with  the  hall  that  I  have  known  in  this 
country. 

Banging,  for  great,  large.  (South  of  England.)  I  also 
find  it,  in  a  Glossary  of  North  Country  Words,  used 
in  the  same  sense.  Thumping  is  a  synonym.  A 
hanging  big  fellow,  and  a  thinnping  big  baby,  are 
common  expressions  here.  The  derivation  of  the 
word  is  not  stated.  Bang,  a  blow,  is  common,  though 
the  analogy  between  this  and  the  other  word  is  not 
clear,  unless  that  banging  is  beating,  a  common  word 
for  excelling.  In  Suffolk,  England,  they  have  a 
cheese  so  hard  as  to  be  called  bang  or  thump.  We 
find  thumping  in  the  Exmoor  Dialect,  meaning  great, 
huge. 

Barra,  or  BARROW,  a  hog.  I  take  this  from  the  Ex- 
moor  Dialect,  published  in  the  ''Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine" for  1*746.  It  is  a  very  familiar  word  to  all  New 
Englandmen.  Exmoor  Forest  is  in  Somersetshire,  on 
the  Bristol  Channel ;  a  wild,  uncultivated  district. 

Barme,  yeast.  (Kent  and  Ireland.)  It  is  in  common 
use,  in  New  England,  in  the  same  sense.  Shakspeare 
has  it  in  "Midsummer  Night's  Dream,"  and  it  is  also 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  21 

used  by  Lord  Bacon.     Origin,  Welsh   and   Saxon. 
Chaucer  has  it  berme. 

*'  Of  tarte,  alum  glas,  berme,  wert  and  argoils." 

Baste,  to  Jlog,  or  beat.  Holloway  gives  this  as  used 
both  in  the  North  and  South  of  England.  He  de- 
rives it  from  the  French  bastoner.  To  baste  one,  or 
to  give  one  a  basting,  is  common  here.  There  is  a 
culinary  operation  under  this  name  that  perhaps  may 
be  the  parent  of  this  word. 

Bauk,  or  BALK,  a  beam.  Balked,  disappointed,  as  if  a 
beam  were  in  the  way.  These  words  are  in  common 
use  in  the  sense  of  checked,  or  being  checked.  A 
balking  horse  everybody  knows  the  meaning  of,  who 
has  had  anything  to  do  with  that  animal ;  though  the 
word  does  not  seem  to  be  so  applied  in  England. 
This  expression  may  be  considered  as  peculiar. 

Ben,  for  been,  is  in  Chaucer,  and  may  be  heard  very 
commonly  here. 

Besom,  a  broom.  (North  of  England.)  I  have  heard  it 
but  once,  that  I  remember,  in  this  country,  from  some 
country  dame,  no  doubt.  Of  Saxon  origin;  and 
found  in  that  best  repository  of  thorough  English,  the 
Bible. 

Better,  for  more  than,  is  common  in  New  England,  as, 
^'better  than  ten  bushels;"  and  I  also  find  it  in  the 
Herefordshire  Glossary. 

Bide,  to  stay  or  stop.  Will  you  not  bide  ?  I  have  heard, 
but  not  frequently. 

Bile,  for  boil,  is  from  Essex. 


22  GLOSSARY   or   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Blather.  Sometimes  heard  here  in  the  sense  in  which 
Skelton  has  it,  loud  talking  or  disputing.  It  is  still 
known  in  Northamptonshire. 
Blirt,  to  cry.  (North  of  England.)  "To  hlii^t  out,"  is 
not  an  uncommon  expression  for  some  peculiarity  of 
speaking,  or  mode  of  communication.  It  was  for- 
merly used  in  the  sense  of  "a  fig  for." 
Blunt,  for  money,  is  in  a  little  work  on  the  "Sheffield 

Dialect."     It  is  in  common  use  here. 
Bob  up  and  down.     This  may  be  found  in  Chaucer  as 
the  name  of  a  town. 

"  We  te  ye  not  where  stancleth  a  litel  town 
Which  that  ycleped  is  Bob  Up  and  Down, 
Under  the  blee  in  Canterbury  way." 

To  hob,  in  the  dictionary,  means  to  play  to  and  fro, 
as  is  done  in  fishing.  Bobbing  up  and  down  is  "mov- 
ing up  and  down."  Whether  our  common  expression 
comes  from  the  town,  or  whether  the  town  was  so 
called  from  being  a  place  through  which  every  one 
passed  up  and  down  from  London  to  Dover,  is  a 
question  we  know  not  how  to  settle. 

Bobbery,  for  noise,  confusion,  is  frequent  here.  Moor 
gives  it  as  in  use  in  Suffolk,  though  not  an  old  phrase, 
but  as  of  frequent  use  in  India. 

Bodily.  To  press  anything  down  bodily,  is  to  press 
it  in  a  mass  or  altogether.  This  is  not  a  common 
word  here,  though  I  have  heard  it  in  Yirginia.  It  is 
not  frequent  in  England,  as  Tod,  nor  Walker,  nor 
Bailey  have  it ;  but  it  is  in  the  Craven  Dialect,  where 
it  means  wholly,  entirely;   but  in  Pegge's  work   it 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  23 

means,  ''with  all  one's  strength."     The  first  is  nearer 
the  way  in  which  I  have  heard  it  applied. 

Boggle,  to  hesitate.  In  this  sense,  this  word  may  be 
heard  occasionally.  Its  root  is  a  Celtic  word,  meaning 
a  goblin  or  ghost ;  thence  comes  hogle  and  bug-bear. 

BooBY-HUTCH.  Forby's  definition:  a  clumsy  and  ill- 
contrived  carriage,  or  seat.  A  carriage-body  put  on 
runners  and  used  as  a  sleigh  was  called,  in  New  Eng- 
land, a  booby-hut;  whether  sucji  a  carriage  is  seen 
now,  or  whether  the  word,  with  the  vehicle,  is  also 
obsolete,  I  know  not.  Hutch  has  several  meanings  in 
England;  in  Kent,  it  means  a  small  cart.  Vide  Tod's 
Johnson. 

Boss.  This  word,  peculiar  to  this  country,  I  had  never 
heard  till  used  by  Matthews,  in  his  "Jonathan  W. 
Doubekins."  It  struck  me  as  strangely,  no  doubt,  as 
it  did  him.  Its  origin  I  do  not  know ;  it  may  be  from 
borsholder,  which  is,  in  Tod's  Johnson,  a  kind  of 
magistrate,  or  justice  of  the  peace,  among  the  Sax- 
ons, and  still  known  under  this  name  in  some  parts  of 
England.  The  Borselder,  meaning  the  head  of  the 
little  district,  or  bor,  is  still  heard  in  England  in  the 
sense  of  neighbor ;  one  of  the  same  bor.  I  find  this 
word  in  Ben  Jonson,  meaning  a  reservoir  for  water : 
*'That  unctous  bounty  is  the  boss  of  Billingsgate." 

Time  Vindicated. 

It  is  in  Bailey.     But  it  is  more  probably  a  Dutch 
word,  or  part  of  a  Dutch  word. 
BoosY,  for  drunk.     We  say  one  is  boosy,  who  is  drunk, 
or  near  it.     Skelton  has  it  for  bloated :  ''Her  face  all 


24  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS 

hoosyy  Hollo  way  derives  this  from  huyssen,  a  Bel- 
gian word,  meaning  to  drink.  Kent  and  East  Sussex 
are  its  English  localities,  but  it  ranges  over  the  whole 
of  this  country. 

Born  days.  "In  all  my  horn  days  I  never  seed  the 
beat  of  that;"  this  common  Yankee  phrase  is  also 
Yorkshire,  though  it  is  generally  used  to  give  force  to 

•    an  exclamation. 

Botch.  Is  used  hoi-e  both  as  a  substantive  and  verb. 
A  thing  badly  done  is  a  hotch,  or  such  a  business  has 
been  botched.  In  parts  of  Yorkshire,  a  hotch  means 
a  cobbler.  It  is  said  to  be  derived  from  a  Gothic 
word,  meaning  to  mend. 

Bowling.'  We  have  nothing  under  this  name.  The 
game  known  as  nine-pins,  though  played  with  ten 
pins,  is  the  same  as  that  mentioned  by  Strutt,  under 
the  name  of  "  long  hoivling,"  except  that  his  game  is 
played  along  the  ground,  and  ours  along  plank ;  and 
instead  of  the  pins  being  placed  on  a  frame,  as  in  his, 
they  are  arranged  at  the  end  of  this  plank.  This  is 
about  sixty  feet  long,  and  six  wide ;  the  balls  are  made 
of  lignum->ita3,  and  large ;  and,  after  being  thrown  at 
the  pins,  are  returned  by  a  long  trough,  and  fall  into 
a  box  placed  to  receive  them.  Sides  are  chosen ;  each 
player  throws  or  rolls  three  balls,  and  the  number 
of  pins  he  knocks  doAvn  are  placed  to  his  account; 
and  when  the  whole  number  of  players  have  played 
through,  then  the  success  of  each  is  added  up,  and 
that  side  is  victorious  which  have  knocked  down  the 
most  pins.     It  is  a  game  not  to  be  highly  commended, 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  25 

as  the  great  advantage  of  exercise  is  lost  by  being 
played  under  cover,  and  by  the  time  each  one  has  to 
wait  before  his  turn  comes.  It  is  generally,  too,  a 
mode  of  dissipation  encouraged  by  tavern-keepers,  to 
whose  precincts  these  nine-pin  alleys,  as  they  are  fre- 
frequently  called,  are  generally  attached.  It  is  ex- 
tremely common  in  New  England,  there  being  hardly 
a  tavern  in  the  neighborhood  of  a  town  that  has  not 
one  of  these  inducements  to  idleness  and  apologies  for 
drinking  and  small  gambling.  There  are  many  minor 
games,  played  by  boys,  that  have  not  been  altered, 
but  played  in  New  England  as  they  are  now,  and  have 
been  for  ages  in  old  England. 

Bran,  or  brand-new.  This  word,  that  is  so  very  com- 
mon, originally  meant  anything  new  or  just  made,  but 
it  is  more  generally  applied  to  new  clothes,  from  their 
glossy  appearance,  given  by  the  tailor's  hot  goose. 
Brant,  or  hran,  is  an  old  word  for  burn.  Brandy 
comes  from  it.  In  ''Beaumont  and  Fletcher"  it  is 
called  brandewine,  no  doubt  burnt  wine.  It  is  said 
that  this  name  was  given  to  the  Brandywine  River, 
from  distilleries  of  that  liquor  on  that  stream.  In 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  ''Beggar's  Bush,"  a  cha- 
racter {Clause)  cries  out,  "Buy  any  brandewine? 
buy  any  brandewine  ?"  Brandewine  is  the  Dutch 
for  brandy,  whence,  probably,  the  name  of  the  river. 
Shakspeare's  word  "fire-new."  is  the  same  as  brand- 
new. 

Brewis.  This  word,  in  England,  means  a  crust  of  bread 
thrown  into  a  pot  where  salt-beef  is  boiling.  Some 
3 


26  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

old  writers  use  it  for  broth.  In  New  England,  in  our 
school  days,  it  meant  flinty  crusts  of  rye  and  Indian 
bread  softened  with  milk  and  eaten  with  molasses. 
They  had  a  custom,  in  the  North  of  England,  of  run- 
ning for  the  broose  at  weddings ;  it  is  the  same  word. 

Brisk  tjp.  "Come,  brisk  up,"  applied  to  one  who 
seems  sad;  also,  "he's  brisken  up  at  last,"  are  fre- 
quent in  New  England.  The  last  expression  is  in  the 
Craven  Dialect. 

Bumble-bee.  By  some  this  word,  common  to  both 
countries,  is  derived  from  the  noise  the  bee  makes  in 
flying ;  others  derive  it  from  a  Teutonic  word,  bom- 
mele,  a  drone.  Humble-bee,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
is  also  derived  from  the  humming  noise  that  it  makes 
in  flying.     See  Tod's  Johnson. 

Bumping.  In  England,  this  means  a  particular  sort  of 
punishment,  used  among  school-boys.  "  Cobbing,"  is 
another  word  for  the  same  thing.  In  our  school-days, 
in  New  England,  it  was  employed  upon  all  new-comers, 
as  a  kind  of  greeting  or  introduction  to  their  com- 
panions. Whether  it  exists  anywhere  now,  we  do  not 
know.  At  the  school  to  which  we  allude,  it  was 
dropped  about  1811  or  1818.  There  was  no  pain  in 
the  operation,  unless  there  was  resistance,  or  some  one 
of  the  bumpers  had  a  private  animosity  to  gratify 
Under  what  circumstances  it  is  employed,  in  England, 
we  do  not  know ;  hei^e  it  seems  to  have  been  intended 
to  imply  something  like  the  granting  the  freedom  of  a 
corporation.  "Washing"  was  another  of  the  customs 
at  the  New  England  seminary.     This  was  in  winter. 


GLOSSARY   or   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  21 

the  other  the  sahitation  of  other  parts  of  the  year. 
It  consisted  in  plunging  the  freshman  into  a  snow- 
drift and  rubbing  his  face  with  snow.  Grose,  in  his 
Classical  Dictionary,  says  that  humpmg  was  a  cere- 
mony performed  on  boys  perambulating  the  bounds 
of  the  parish  on  Whitmonday,  when  they  were 
humped  against  the  stones  marking  the  boundary,  in 
order  to  fix  them  on  their  memory.  According  to 
Moor,  humjnng  is  practiced  in  Suffolk,  as  a  punish- 
ment among  school-boys.  The  manner  of  perform 
ing  this  evolution  seems  the  same  in  both  countries, 
though  with  us  it  was  not  always  designed  as  a 
punishment,  but  as  a  kind  of  informal  introduction  to 
the  privileges  of  companionship. 

Bung  your  eye,  for  diHnk  a  dram.  Strictly  speaking, 
to  drink  till  one's  eye  is  bunged  up,  or  closed.  (Class. 
Diet.)  This  cant  phrase  I  have  never  heard  ;  but  boys 
at  school  said,  "I'll  hung  your  eye,"  meaning  to  strike 
one  in  the  eye,  the  consequence  of  which  was  generally  a 
hunged  eye,  that  is,  so  swollen  as  to  be  closed  up.  It 
is  derived,  no  doubt,  from  hung,  which  came  from  a 

^    Welsh  word  that  means  a  stopple. — Tod's  Johnson. 

Burying,  for  a  funeral;  as,  ''he  is  gone  to  a  hurying,^^ 
is  heard  often  in  New  England,  and  in  several  parts 
of  England. 

Butter-fingered.  Mr.  Carr  defines  this  as  one  who  is 
afraid  of  touching  a  heated  vessel  or  instrument;  Mr. 
Brockett,  "one  who  lets  things  slip  from  his  fingers." 
This  was  our  mode  of  applying  the  expression.  A  boy 
who  did  not  catch  his  ball  was  called  hutter-fingered. 


28  GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 


C. 

Cake,  or  cakey,  a  foolish  fellow.  (Class.  Diet.)  Oc- 
casionally heard  here. 

Cant,  to  set  upon  edge.  (Forby.)  This  is  our  mode  of 
using  it. 

Catch.  This  is  pronounced,  in  New  England,  ketch. 
It  is  also  so  pronounced  in  parts  of  England,  and  is  a 
pronunciation  as  old  as  Chaucer.  In  Essex  they  say 
kitch. 

"  Lord  !  trowe  ye  that  a  coveitous  wretche 
That  blameth  love,  and  hath  of  it  despite 
That  of  the  pens  that  he  can  mueke  and  hetche.^^ 

Troilus  and  Cresida,  book  iii.,  1375. 

He  also,  in  another  place,  spells  it  catche.  There 
appears  a  disposition,  in  certain  of  the  more  Anglo- 
Saxon  parts  of  England,  to  turn  short  a  into  short  e, 
as  bed  for  bad.  They  have  their  authority  in  some  of 
the  oldest  writers  in  the  language.  I  have  never 
heard  bad  so  pronounced ;  but  gether,  for  gather,  is 
common,  and  is  brought  from  our  English  ancestors, 
who  took  it  from  a  very  remote  source.  A  is  also 
changed  in  calf,  as  keaff;  in  care,  as  keer,  and  some- 
times ker;  chair  is  called  cheer;  rather,  ruther; 
farther,  further  and  furder;  marsh,  mash;  harsh, 
hash;  scarce,  source.  All  these  peculiarities  in  the 
use  of  a  are  common  in  parts  of  England,  and  we 
have  preserved  them.  E  in  several  words  becomes  a, 
as  mar  chant,  sarmon,  arrand,  varmin;  y  alter,  for 


GLOSSARY  OP   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  29 

yellow.  The  diphthong  ea  is  made  a  in  some  cases : 
arnest,  for  earnest;  lam,  for  learn;  earth  becomes 
airth;  deaf,  deef.     Suffolk  and  Norfolk  are  the  por- 

~  tions  of  the  mother  country  to  which  we  are  indebted 
for  these  seeming  oddities,  though  really  ancient  modes 
of  speaking. 

Cat's  cradle,  or  scratch  cradle.  This  is  a  well- 
known  game  among  children,  in  this  country  as  well 
as  in  England.  I  find  it  mentioned  in  only  one  of  the 
works  on  British  provincialisms  in  my  possession.  Brit- 
ton's  "Provincial  Words  of  Wiltshire  and  the  Adja- 
cent Counties."  This  is  curious,  as  this  game  is  known 
everywhere  here,  and  Wiltshire  is  one  of  the  inland 
counties  of  England,  and  one  from  which  few  proba- 
bly have  ever  emigrated  to  this  country,  at  least  in 
comparison  with  the  sea-board  counties.  Whether  this 
child's  sport  is,  then,  as  common  in  England  as  here, 
admits  of  a  doubt. 

Cave,  to  fall  into  a  hollow  beloiv.  (Forby.)  We  mean, 
by  caving,  the  falling  in  of  any  excavation,  as  the 
banks  of  a  ditch,  or  sides  of  a  grave.  A  very  hungry 
traveler  made  a  very  expressive  application  of  the 
word,  by  saying  his  stomach  was  so  empty  that  he 
thought  he  should  cave  in. 

Cawkers.  The  hind  part  of  a  horse's  shoe,  sharpened 
and  turned  downward,  to  prevent  the  animal  from 
slipping.  (Brockett.)  This  is,  no  doubt,  the  word 
we  call  corks.  We  also  say  corked  shoes,  when  the 
horse's  shoes  are  sharpened  in  winter.  In  some  parts 
of  England  it  is  spelled  cawkins. 
3* 


30  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Char,  or  choor.  Doing  little  chores^  is  a  common  ex- 
pression in  New  England.  It  means  more  an  errand 
than  any  kind  of  work.  But  in  England  it  is  applied 
to  the  humbler  kinds  of  house-labor,  as  well  as  to 
going  errands.  A  char-woman  is  a  frequent  visitor 
to  English  families  in  days  of  extra  labor.  It  is  used 
in  the  North  and  West  of  England.  The  word  is 
in  Shakspeare,  and  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher. 

"Here's  two  chewers  chewred^ 

Cure  for  Love. 
"  Set  lier  to  her  chare.'''' 

Middleton's  Honest  Whore. 
"Now,  for  his  conjuring,  the  witches  of  Lapland  are  tlie 
devil's  chair-toomen  to  him." — Beau,   and    Fletcfier's    Fair 
Maid  of  the  Inn. 

Chaw,  a  vulgar  word  for  cheio.  Is  universal  in  New 
England  among  those  least  attentive  to  the  propriety 
of  language.  "Give  me  a  c/iait;  of  tobacco."  Walker 
has  it,  and  the  Craven  Dialect,  so  that  it  is  probably 
an  old  word,  though  I  remember  no  authority  for  it.^ 

Chill,  to  take  off  extreme  coldness  from  any  beverage, 
by  placing  it  near  the  fire  in  frosty  weather.  (Forby.) 
We  do  not  say  to  chill  cold  water,  but  we  say  to  take 
off  the  chill.  As  a  verb,  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
heard' c7i27?.  The  participle  chilled,  is  common.  "He 
was  chilled  by  sitting  in  the  cold  church."  Chilly,  wq 
use,  as,  "I  feel  chilly, ^^  for  a  morbid  sensation  of 
something  less  than  cold. 

Chimlay,  for  .chimney,  and  sometimes  pronounced 
chimbley.     We  have  derived  it  from  the  North  of 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  31 

England;   also  chimney -piece,  for  mantel;   both  of 
which  are  the  common  words  of  New  England. 
Chip  of  the  old  block.     Is  a  universal  North  Country 
expression.  * 

"How  well  dost  tliou  now  appear  to  be  a  chip  of  the  old 
j;oc^."_Milton's  Prose  Works,  p.  347,  edition  of  1697,  folio. 

Chopping  boy,  for  a  strong,  hearty  child,  is  from  that 
part  of  England ;  also  chuckle-headed,  for  stupid. 

Chouder,  a  sea-dish,  composed  of  fresh  fish,  salt 
pork,  herbs,  and  sea-biscuits,  laid  in  different  layers 
and  stewed  together.  (Class.  Diet.)  This  is  a  well- 
known  dish  in  New  England,  though  we  had  supposed 
it  peculiar ;  an  indigenous  invention ;  it  is  a  savory 
and  wholesome  dish. 

Chuck.  We  very  seldom  hear  this  word  with  Macbeth's 
affectionate  meaning.  As  a  verb,  in  the  sense  of  "to 
throw,"  as  chuck  it  here,  it  is  common  in  New  Eng- 
land ;  chuck  full,  or,  as  it  is  more  generally  pro- 
nounced, chock  full,  implying  very  full,  is  also  com- 
mon there.  This  is  noticed  in  Hunter's  Hallamshire 
Glossary,  but  in  no  other  work.  There  are  various 
meanings  given  to  it,  in  Tod's  Johnson,  but  no  one 
that  approaches  this  use  of  it.  Chuck  full  is  in  Essex, 
also. 
Chump,  a  small  block  of  wood.  This  is  probably  the 
same  word  that  we  call  chunk  in  New  England.  Brit- 
ton  and  Forby  have  it.  Ghunk  is  a  strong  piece  of 
wood,  in  Persian.  See  Westons's  work.  Our  word 
chunk  and  junk  may  come  from  it. 
Clap.     ''Clap  yourself  down,"  is   not   an   unfrequent 


32  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

way  of  asking  one  to  take  a  seat.  It  is  a  familiar 
and  not  a  formal  expression.  I  find  it  in  "Wilbraham's 
Glossary  of  Cheshire  Words,  where  it  is  supposed  to 
be  of  French  origin,  from  se  clapper,  to  squat  as 
rabbits  do. 

Clap-board.  This  is  the  name  of  the  boards  of  which 
the  houses  of  New  England  are  built.  They  are  three 
or  four  feet  long,  made  of  pine,  and  thinner  on  one  side 
than  the  other.  These  form  the  sides ;  those  of  the  roof 
are  called  shingles.  Why  they  are  called  clap-hoards, 
I  do  not  know.  In  the  North  of  England,  they  make 
a  bread  called  clap-hread,  from  its  being  clapped 
with  the  hand.  The  board  with  which  it  is  clapped 
is  known  as  a  clap-hoard  ;  whether  this,  by  its  shape, 
suggested  our  word,  I  am  unable  to  decide. 

Clean.  I  find  this  in  none  of  the  glossaries  but  Nares's. 
It  is  very  common  in  New  England,  in  the  same 
sense  as  used  by  Shakspeare  in  "Comedy  of  Errors." 
"It  went  clean  through  from  one  side  of  the  room  to 
the  other." 

Clip,  a  hlow.  To  hit  one  a  clip),  is  no  uncommon -pro- 
ceeding here.  I  know  of  no  authority  for  the  word. 
Bailey  has  clop,  for  blow. 

Clout,  for  a  hloiv  on  the  head.  Though  an  old  word,  I 
have  heard  it  but  once  in  this  country.  Its  other 
meanings  we  have  kept  as  we  had  them  from  our  an- 
cestors, i.e.  a  kitchen-cloth,  etc. 

Clumpers.  Ver^y  thich  and  heavy  shoes.  Forby,  who 
says  wooden  shoes  are  so  called  in  Holland,  gives 
a  Belgic  word,  klonipem,  for  its  origin.     We  used 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  33 

the  word,  as  boys,  in  the  above  sense.  Shoes  with 
thick  soles  we  called  a  ''real  pair  of  dumpers." 

Clutches.  Appears  to  be  peculiar  to  the  North  of 
England.  We  continue  to  make  use  of  it  in  the  sense 
it  has  there,  that  of  a  strong  gripe  or  hold  upon  some 
one.     "I  should  not  like  to  get  into  his  clutches." 

Clutter,  for  confusion.  The  things  are  all  in  a  clut- 
ter.    Forby  has  it  in  the  same  sense. 

Cob.  Corn-cob,  with  us,  means  the  receptacle  on  which 
the  seeds  of  Indian-corn  grow.  We  say,  "ears  of 
corn,"  before  the  grains  are  removed;  but  after,  corn- 
cobs. ■  There  is  a  word,  cobs,  meaning  the  top,  or 
head,  of  anything,  which  may  be  the  origin  of  this; 
though,  in  England,  they  say  a  cob-horse,  and  apply 
it  to  a  low,  thick-set  animal. 

Cognizance.  This  may  be  sometimes  heard  in  the  sense 
of  notice,  as,  "I  would  take  no  cognizance  of  that,  if 
I  were  you."  Its  proper  meaning  is,  judicial  notice. 
"  Our  laws  take  no  cognizance  ;"  but  it  has  descended 
from  legal  to  social  application. 

Conceit,  used  for  conceive  ;  as,  "  I  conceited  that  it  was 
so-and-so;"  also,  "I  had  no  conceit  on  it."  I  have 
only  heard  it  in  Pennsylvania,  but  never,  I  think,  in 
New  England.  The  Hereford  Glossary  has  it.  In 
Middleton's  "Mayor  of  Queenborough,"  this  word  is 
used  in  this  sense,  "  I've  no  conceit,  now,  you  ever 
loved  me;"  also,  in  the  same  play,  in  the  same  sense 
as  quickness  of  apprehension.  It  does  not  seem  to  im- 
ply fondness,  as  in  England.  "Out  of  conceit  of  so- 
and-so,"  means,  there,  dislike;  here,  rather,  "I  have 
lost  my  good  opinion  of."     The  verb  is  known,  too, 


34  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

as,  "I  never  conceited  lie  would  do  such  a  thing," 
meaning  supposed  or  imagined. 

Co'SCER'S,  to  meddle  with.  (Hereford  Glossary.)  It  may- 
be heard  in  this  sense  in  all  the  northern  part  of  this 
country.  " Don't  concern  with  that ;"  "I  wish  to  have 
no  concern  with  him,  or  it."  "But  those  she-fowlers 
nothing  concern  us,"  is  in  Middleton's  "Mayor  of 
Queenborough." 

Corned.  (Class.  Diet.)  A  common  word  for  a  common 
condition  in  New  England.  Chaucer  has  a  word, 
.corny,  strong  of  the  malt;  a  man  corny,  would  be 
one  who  had  drank  ale  strong  of  the  malt,  thence 
comes,  very  naturally,  corny.  Corned  is  still  used  in 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  England. 

Cowlick,  or  calflick.  This  is  applied  to  a  portion  of 
the  hair  that  persists  very  obstinately  in  preserving  a 
particular  and  independent  position  on  the  head.  In 
Brockett's  Glossary  of  North  Country  Words,  he  says 
that  "  this  term  must  have  been  adopted  from  a  com- 
parison with  that  part  of  a  calf's  or  cow's  hide  where 
the  hairs,  having  different  directions,  meet  and  form 
a  projecting  ridge,  supposed  to  be  occasioned  by  the 
animals  licking  themselves." 

Creachy.  This  word  I  have  never  heard  but  once,  and 
from  a  farmer  in  Pennsylvania,  all  whose  ances- 
tors were  Quakers,  of  Welsh  origin.  I  know  of  no- 
thing like  it  in  any  dialect.  It  seems  a  corruption  of 
creaking,  and  was  applied  to  a  very  fat  ox,  whose 
legs  were  getting  a  little  creachy. 

Cracker.     This  word,  which  is  applied  to  a  particular 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED    AMERICANISMS.  35 

kind  of  biscuit,  we  have  heard  accomplished  English- 
men debate  as  to  what  could  be  its  origin.  There  is 
a  cake  called,  in  some  parts  of  England,  a  cracknel, 
which  some  have  thought  it  derived  from ;  there  is 
also  a  small  baking-dish  called  a  cracker.  But  the 
word  seems  to  us  to  speak  for  itself,  and  to  be  so 
called  from  cracking,  or  crackling,  in  the  mouth. 
Bailey  defines  cracker,  a  crust. 

Crinkle  crunkle,  to  lorinkle;  cringle  crangle,  zig- 
zag. Holloway  gives  these  as  Norfolk,  Suffolk,  and 
Hampshire  words,  of  a  Danish  origin,  krinkelin.  We 
used  to  say,  as  boys,  that  our  letters  were  crinky 
cranky,  when  they  took  a  direction  deviating,  as  they 
often  did,  from  a  straight' line,  in  our  earliest  attempts 
at  penmanship.  There  might  have  been  other  appli- 
cations, and  I  have  an  impression  that  there  were,  but 
I  do  not  remember  them  distinctly. 

Crump.  We  not  unfrequently  hear  the  expression,  "he 
is  an  old  crump.''  It  means,  in  the  North  of  England, 
one  out  of  temper.  Frump  is  also  used  in  the  same 
sense,  though  not  the  verb,  which  may  be  found  in 
some  of  the  old  dramatic  authors. 

Cubby-hole,  a  snug,  confined  place.  (Jennings.)  Com- 
mon, in  New  England,  among  children. 

Curtshey,  clumb.  Are  both  Cumberland  vulgarisms, 
and  as  such  are  common  in  New  England. 

Cuss.  This  is  an  Essex  pronunciation  of  curse.  It  is 
common  in  New  England.  A  stage-driver,  in  New 
England,  once  expressed  to  me  his  contempt  for  a 
person  who  led  a  very  retired  life,  by  saying  "  that  he 


36  GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

was  a  sleepy-headed  cuss."  This  kind  of  personifica- 
tion of  an  anathema  is  not  common.  They  also  say 
pus  for  purse,  as  is  heard  in  New  England.  And  in 
Suffolk  they  pronounce  peirce,  purse,  or  puss,  a  pro- 
nunciation quite  common  in  New  England,  whether 
it  be  the  name  of  a  person  or  a  verb.  Peirce  and 
Pearse  are  both  names  of  persons,  and  both  pro- 
nounced Purse. 

D. 

Dab.  "To  hit  one  a  dab,"  we  used  to  hear  very  often, 
at  the  time  when  blows  were  dealt  with  less  hesitation 
than  in  these  serious  parts  of  one-s  life.  The  verb  to 
dab,  means  to  touch  gently,  and  the  substantive  im- 
plied rather  a  blow  with  the  back  or  palm  of  the  hand 
than  with  the  fist.  The  origin  is  said  to  be  from  an 
Arabic  word,  adab,  whence  comes  adept,  and  the  word 
dab,  or  dabster;  "he  is  a  dabster  at  it,"  which  we  often 
hear,  though  there  seems  no  analogy  between  this  and 
dab,  in  the  first  sense  we  have  mentioned,  that  of  a 
blow.  In  Brockett's  Glossary,  he  gives  the  word  dad, 
instead  of  dab,  for  a  blow,  but  adds  no  explanations 
as  to  its  source.  It  is  probably  only  a  corrupt  pro- 
nunciation. A  certain  kind  of  cake,  I  believe  of  In- 
dian-meal, is  called  a  dab,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  south 
of  it.  Dab  may  be  a  corruption  of  dub,  which  meant 
to  make  a  knight  by  stinking  him.  The  martial  ap- 
peal to  arms,  known  to  boys  as  "rubby-dub-dub,"  is 
from  the  same  source. 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  3t 

Daff-a-down-dillies.  This  word,  that  has  sunk,  in 
the  progress  of  what  is  called  refinement,  to  a  vulgar- 
ism, was  used  by  Spenser,  in  his  "Shepherd's  Callen- 
dar." 

Dainty.  Is  seldom  or  never  applied  in  any  way  here 
but  to  eating.  Moor  gives  it  as  common,  in  Suffolk, 
in  the  same  sense ; ,  but  it  is  in  no  other  collection  but 
his.  Daynt  is  in  Spenser,  but  not  with  the  limited 
application  in  which  it  is  now  heard. 

Damage.  We  had  an  idea  that  this  word  was  an  emi- 
grant. In  the  Hallamshire  Glossary,  it  is  given  as 
used  in  Yorkshire  in  the  exact  sense  in  which  we  use 
it:  "what's  the  damage V^  meaning  what  have  we  to 
pay. 

Dansy.  This  is  used,  in  Chester  County,  Pennsylvania, 
as  applying  to  old  persons  who  are  failing.  Dansy- 
headed  is  a  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  phrase  for  giddy, 
thoughtless.  This  of  Pennsylvania,  where  I  have  only 
heard  it,  appears  of  the  same  origin ;  one  of  the  usual 
marks  of  old  age  being  a  lightness  of  mind,  as  shown 
by  loquacity. 

Darned.  "  I'll  be  darned,''^  a  species  of  oath,  very  com- 
mon in  New  England,  comes  from  Essex. 

"Tf  e'er  their  jars  tliyve  made  ya  feel 
This  gud  adwice  ya  call, 
For  sitch  warm  an's  gripe  or  I'll  be  darned 
Food  soon  make  ya  sing  small  " 

Darter,  for  daughter,  was   a  common   pronunciation 
formerly  in  New  England.     It  is  from  Essex,  and  we 
seem  to  derive  that  hardening  of  words  from  that  por- 
4 


38  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

tion  of  England.  They  say,  too,  jarney,  for  journey ; 
laming  and  lamed. 

Dawdy,  a  careless,  slatternly  looman.  We  say  dowdy, 
which  is  no  doubt  the  same  word.  Dawdle,  or  dad- 
die,  implying  a  lounging,  indolent  way  of  doing  any- 
thing, is  allied  to  this  verb. 

Deaf-nut.  A  North  Country  word  for  a  nut  whose 
kernel  is  decayed.  It  is  common  with  us,  and  is  said 
to  be  Saxon.  Deaf  is  often  pronounced,  in  New 
England,  long,  like  leaf.  In  Westmoreland  and  Cum- 
berland it  is  the  same,  and  in  a  glossary  of  those  coun- 
ties is  spelt  deef.  In  Scotland,  deaf  is  applied  to 
soil  and  vegetables,  indicating  sterility. 

Dead-alive,  deadly,  for  very,  extremely.  Both  of 
these  expressions  are  in  the  Hereford  Glossary  as 
Gloucestershire  provincialisms.  A  "  dead-and-alive 
sort  of  a  man,"  I  have  heard,  in  New  England,  ap- 
plied to  a  dull  person,  and  ''an  all-alive  sort  of  a  per- 
son," to  one  lively  and  quick.  Deadly  I  have  only 
heard  coupled  with  affected,  as,  "she  is  deadly  af- 
fected." Neither,  I  think,  are  of  such  common  use, 
or  made  use  of  by  such  a  class  of  persons,  as  would 
project  them  among  provincialisms.  A  dead  lift,  and 
dead  ripe,  as  in  the  Craven  Dialect,  for  raising  a 
heavy  inactive  mass,  and  for  fully  matured,  are  fre- 
quent ;  and,  when  at  school,  we  used  to  say  the  tide 
was  "(ZeacZ  low,"  when  at  its  lowest. 

Dicky,  a  womari's  under  petticoat.  It's  all  dicky  with 
him,  that  is,  "it  is  all  over  with  him."  (Class.  Diet.) 
This  last  phrase  is  very  common  here.     We  have  no 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  39 

idea  whence  it  came,  nor  would  we  be  very  likely  to 
discover  from  the  definition  above.  We  are  not  alto- 
gether sure  what  Grose  meant,  unless  it  is  to  play  off 
a  witticism  ;  if  so,  "it's  all  dicky  with  him,"  will  be 
that  he  is  brought  to  his  last  shift. 
Die.  The  phrase,  "as  clean  as  a  di^?,"  may  be  fre- 
quently heard.  AYhence  it  comes  is  not  easily  decided. 
Mr.  Carr  gives  it  in  his  Glossary  of  Craven,  but  with 
no  solution.  He  quotes  these  lines  from  Tusser,  who 
died  toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century : — 

"  In  ridding  of  pasture  with  turfes  that  lie  by, 
Fill  everie  hole  up  close  as  a  <f?e." 

This  quotation  does  not  give  any  clue.  "He's  going 
to  make  a  die  of  it,"  may  be  heard  of  one  of  whom 
there  are  no  hopes  of  his  living;  and,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  above  lines,  that  use  of  the  word  might  have 
done,  as  expressing  a  something  completely  effected. 
Die  is  also  an  old  word  used  in  architecture,  for  the 
part  of  the  pedestal  between  the  base  and  cornice ;  it 
is  also  the  mould  in  which  coins  are  shaped ;  and  the 
neatness  and  precision  of  the  die  may  be  its  origin. 
Diggings,  a  vulgarism  of  this  country,  is  in  Jeremy 
Taylor's  "Holy  Dying,"  chapter  i.  section  2,  part  3: 
"Let  us  not  project  long  designs,  crafty  plots,  and 
diggings  so  deep."  Is  it  not  singular  that  no  diction- 
ary., at  least  that  I  have  consulted,  contains  this  word  ? 
Admitting  that  its  origin  here  does  not  entitle  it  to  a 
position  in  the  language,  still  the  use  of  it  by  such  an 
author  as  Taylor  should  have  given  it  a  place. 


40  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Disguised,  for  drunk.  (Class.  Diet.)  Not  so  far  gone 
as  drunk,  with  us,  but  only  partially  affected.  The  usual 
behavior  or  condition  of  a  man  disguised  with  liquor, 
means  that  he  is  not  himself.  In  Beaumont  and 
Fletcher's  "Philaster,"  there  is  the  same  application  of 
this  word  as  we  now  hear,  when  a  person  is  said  to 
■  be  disguised  by  liquor.  Tod's  Johnson  quotes  the 
" Spectator "  for  this  word;  but  it  is  older  than  the 
"  Spectator,"  as  I  find  it  in  "  Middleton's  Honest 
Whore,"  Act  II.  Scene  2,  part  2  :— 

"Did  you  late  see  a  gemleman  better  disguised?'^ 
"Never,  believe  me,  signior." 
"Yes,  but  when  he  has  been  drunk." 

DOATED.  I  have  never  heard  this  word  but  once,  and 
then  from  a  farmer  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadel- 
phia. It  means  broken  by  age.  Moor  has  it  as  ap- 
plied to  decaying  timber,  by  the  people  of  Suffolk. 

Dog,  or  a  pai^  of  dogs,  for  a  pair  of  andirons,  is  com- 
mon in  New  England.  Brockett  has  it  in  his  Glossary, 
yet  Captain  Hamilton,  no  doubt  through  ignorance, 
seemed  to  think  it  of  American  coinage.  On  the  site 
of  a  Koman  camp,  they  dug  up,  a  few  years  ago,  a 
pair  of  iron  dogs,  so  that  they  are  an  ancient  piece  of 
furniture.  An  account  of  them  will  be  found  in  Bray- 
ley's  "Graphical  and  Historical  Illustrator.'^ 

Dog  cheap,  for  extremely  cheap,  we  have  preserved 
from  our  North  Country  ancestors ;  also  doggfxl,  for 
sullen  and  obstinate,  and  dog  Latin,  for  a  gibberish  of 
Latin  words  thrown  together  without  rule  or  order. 
The  Hallamshire  Glossary  gives  the  three. 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  41 

Down  in  the  mouth,  belongs  to  the  North  of  England. 

Draggle,  or  Daggle,  comes  from  an  old  word,  dag-dew. 
A  daggle-idA\Q6.  or  draggle-idAlQdi  wench,  is  common 
here,  and  used  in  the  same  sense  as  in  the  North  of  Eng- 
land, implying  a  low  creature.  It  formerly  would  have 
meant  nothing  more  than  a  woman  whose  petticoats 
are  wet  and  dirty. 

Duds.  ''Pack  up  your  duds,^^  we  hear  occasionally  in  a 
ludicrous  sense.  Duds  formerly  meant  clothes  of  a 
dirty  or  inferior  sort.  (Brockett.)  Dud  is  Gaelic,  for 
rag.  It  is  not  made  use  of  in  this  country  by  any 
portion  of  our  people,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  lan- 
guage, only  as  a  colloquial  expression. 

Dumpy.  Brockett  gives  sullen  as  the  meaning  of  this 
word,  in  the  North  of  England ;  and  Britton,  dwarf- 
ish, short,  and  clumsy,  in  Wiltshire ;  in  this  sense,  it 
may  be  heard  often  among  us,  but  never,  so  far  as  I 
know,  in  the  other.  We  say  a  person  is  in  the  dumps, 
but  not  dumpy.  Tod's  Johnson  gives  a  Dutch  word, 
dom,  as  the  etymology  of  dumps,  and  an  Icelandic 
word,  doomp,  which  means  a  stout  servant-maid,  for 
that  of  the  latter  word.  In  ''Romeo  and  Juliet," 
dump  is  used  for  music  in  a  melancholy  strain.  For 
melancholy  or  moody,  dumps  has  long  been  in  use. 

"  I'  til'  meantiiDe  let's  bestow  a  soBg  upon  him, 
To  shake  him  from  his  dumps." 

Beau,  and  Fletcher's  Double  Marriage. 

Dump,  to  throw  out,  as  dirt  from  a  cart,  is  used  in 
Pennsylvania.     "Dump  it  down  here,"  I  have  never 
heard  but  in  this  quarter. 
4  * 


42  GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

DuNDER-HEAD.  We  often  apply  this  word  to  a  stupid 
person.  I  find  it  in  none  of  the  glossaries,  or  Tod's 
Johnson,  or  Bailey.  In  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's 
"Women  Pleased,"  there  is  a  word  of  the  same  appli- 
cation: "you  know  what  a  dundle-hend  my  master  is." 
Whence  it  comes  I  am  unable  to  decide,  unless  from 
dumb,  which  sometimes  means  stupid. 

E. 

Eend,  for  enc?.  (Wilbraham.)  This  is  the  usual  pronun- 
ciation among  the  illiterate.  There  is  a  peculiarity  in 
its  use,  in  New  England,  that  is  not  very  easy  to  ac- 
count for.  If  an  individual,  or  a  number  of  persons, 
were  to  hear  anything  that  caused  surprise,  it  would  be 
said  that  he  or  they  "were  all  struck  on.eend;^^  also,  a 
horse  reared  on  eend.  It  is,  perhaps,  expressive  of 
the  perpendicular  position  one  takes ;  the  drawing  up 
of  astonishment,  taken  from  a  stick  set  on  its  end. 
Height  an  end,  straight  forward ;  also  upright,  are  in 
the  Craven  Glossary  :  they  are  our  Yankee  meanings. 
Moor,  in  his  "  Suffolk  Words,"  gives  the  same  word  as 
used  there.     Aninnd,  is  his  spelling  of  it. 

Earnest.  Money  given  to  bind  a  bargain.  (Britton.) 
We  hear  this  word,  made  use  of  in  this  way,  occasion- 
ally ;  no  other  glossary  mentions  it. 

Egg,  to  instigate,  to  incite.  (Brockett.)  Comnionly  pro- 
nounced edge.  "  To  edge  on,"  being  common  in  the 
sense  of  to  instigate.  Chaucer  has  it  in  his  "Persones 
Tale,"  and  also  uses  a  substantive,  eggement: — 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  43 

<*  Mother,  quod  she,  and  may  den  bright  Marie 
Soth  is,  that  thrugh  womanne's  eggement 
Mankind  was  borne,  and  damned  ay  to  die." 

The  Man  o-f  Lawe's  Tale,  line  52G2. 

It  was  corrupted  into  edge  before  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  In  the  Exmoor  Dialect,  agging 
is  given  in  the  same  sense  as  edging,  or  egging.  I 
have  never  heard  the  word  in  this  country.  Walter 
Scott  has  it  in  his  "  Life  of  Kemble. 

Eke  out,  to  use  sparingly.  (Brockett.)  This  is  hardly 
our  meaning;  we  say,  "he  has  barely  enough  to  eke 
out  a  living,"  or,  "that  his  circumstances  are  limited," 
but  never,  so  far  as  we  know,  employ  it  in  any  other 
way. 

Errand.  In  New  England,  they  say  arrand,  or  raiit; 
This  appears  the  old  way.  In  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's 
"  Lye,"  we  read — 

*'  Go  soule,  the  bodie's  guest, 
Upon  a  thankless  arrant.'" 

In  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland,  they  say  arrant. 
Expect,  a  North  Country  word,  for  to  suppose.  It  has 
two  meanings  in  this  country.  We  expect  that  a  thing 
has  happened,  and  we  expect  that  it  will  happen  ;  and 
in  reply  to  a  question,  "Are  you  going  to  New  York 
to-morrow  ?"  "I  expect  so,"  would  probably  be  the  an- 
swer ;  not  exactly  in  the  sense  of  suppose,  but  of  "  I 
think  I  shall."  Pickering  has  noticed  this  word  in  his 
"Vocabulary." 


44  GLOSSARY    OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 


Favor.  To  say  that  a  person  favors  his  father  or  mo- 
ther, for  resembles, M  Gommon  here,  as  in  England; 
but  we  preserve  an  old  meaning,  that  appears  to  have 
died  out  in  England.  We  say,  of  a  horse  that  goes  a 
little  lame,  that  he  favors  his  foot,  off  or  near.  None 
of  the  glossaries  have  this  word  in  the  latter  sense, 
nor  Tod's  Johnson ;  but  Bailey  has  favor,  to  ease,  to 
spare,  which  is  our  application. 

Eers,  and  Eersley,  are  common,  in  New  England,  for 
fierce,  and  fiercely.  They  can  be  found  in  Percy's 
''Reliques,"  spelt  in  the  first  manner.  Pierce  is 
also  pronounced  'pers. 

Fester,  an  inflammatory  tumor.  (Jenning's  Dialect  of 
the  West.)  This  is  our  application,  and  very  com- 
mon. 

Fiddlestick.  An  interjectional  expression  of  dishelief, 
or  doubt,  usually  bestowed  on  any  absurd  or  nonsensi- 
cal conversation.  (Brockett.)  This  is  our  way.  of 
using  it,  though  we  sometimes  enlarge  it  into  fiddle- 
stick''s  end. 

EiNNiKiNG,  FiNNiKiN,  for  trifling.  Scrupulously  par- 
ticular. (Brockett.)  Contempt  is  always,  I  think,  im- 
plied in  our  use  of  this  word.   It  is  general  among  us. 

Fizz,  to  scorch,  to  fly  off,  to  make  a  hissing  noise. 
(Brockett.)  The  noise  made  by  igniting  damp  pow- 
der is  nearer  our  meaning,  and  the  only  one  in  which 
we  use  it. 


GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  45 

Fix.  This  we  use  in  a  peculiar  manner  in  this  country. 
"  He  is  in  a  j^^,"  may  be  often  heard,  meaning  that  he 
is  in  a  situation  from  which  it  will  be  difficult  to  extri- 
cate himself;  also  for  arrange,  "I'll^j;  it;"  and  with 
an  application  taken  from  the  word  arrange,  as  "  I'll 
fix  him,"  to  settle  with  him,  or  bring  him  to  terms, 
though  a  vindictive  feeling  is  implied  in  the  expres- 
sion. 

Flat,  for  fool,  is  common  here.     ''  He's  such  a  flai.''^ 

Flam,  a  fall;  also  /a^terz/, bordering  on  a  lie.  (Brock- 
ett.)  Neither  of  these  is  our  meaning.  We  some- 
times hear,  "  it's  all  a  flam ;"  implies  imposition,  a 
cheat  practiced  on  some  one,  or  ourselves  ;  something 
almost  a  lie. 

Flap-jack,  a  fried  cahe,  made  of  batter,  apples,  etc. ; 
a  fritter.  (Jenning's  West  of  England  Dialect.)  In 
New  England,  this  is  a  large  pancake,  generally  or 
universally  for  the  evening  meal.  It  is  very  common 
in  the  country,  but  more  frequent  at  inns  than  in  pri- 
vate families.  Shakspeare  mentions  these  in  "  Peri- 
cles." The  prince  is  shipwrecked,  and  falls  among 
some  honest  fishermen,  one  of  whom  invites  him  very 
heartily  to  his  house  : — 

"Come,  thou  shalt  go  home,  and  we'll  liave  flesh  for  holj^- 
days,  fish  for  fasting-days  ;  moreover,  puddings  d^nCi  flap-jacks  ; 
and  thou  shalt  be  welcome." 

They  are  pancakes  in  New  England,  not  apple-puffs. 
Flea-bite.  A  ludicrous  designation  for  any  trivial  pain 
or  danger.    (Brockett.)    Very  common  here,  though 
the  thing,  in  fact,  is  no  joke. 


46  GLOSSARY   OP    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Flip,  small-beer,  hrandij,  and  sugar.  (Class.  Diet.) 
These  are  the  ingredients  of  the  New  England  liquor 
of  the  same  name.  It  is  common  at  all  the  taverns  in 
winter,  and  a  very  welcome  beverage  after  a  cold  ride. 
It  is  heated  by  plunging  into  it  a  red-hot  iron,  and 
then  handed,  foaming,  to  the  chilled  and  shivering 
traveler.  The  Swedish  word  fiepp,  a  drink  of  sugar 
and  brandy,  seems  its  original. 

Flinders,  for  shreds,  broken  pieces,  splinters.  Dutch, 
flenters.  (Brockett.)  Broken  or  smashed  to  flinders, 
is  a  common  expression  among  us  ;  also,  "  he's  -gone 
all  to  flinders,''^  for  one  who  makes  a  bad  failure. 

Flummery,  for  blanc-mange.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.) 
It  is  not  used  in  this  sense,  in  this  country ;  but  for 
something  more  fluid,  and  nearly  porridge.  Tod's 
Johnson  derives  it  from  the  Welsh. 

Follow,  to  practice  for  a  livelihood.  (Forby.)  Our 
use  of  this  word  is  the  same :  "  What  trade  do  you 
followV^  '^  He /o?/oiys  farming."  But  it  is  also  applied 
to  professions,  as  "he  followed  the  law,"  "he  fol- 
lowed preaching."  To  judge  from  Forby's  definition, 
it  applies,  in  England,  only  to  trades  and  inferior 
occupations. 

Foist.  This,  from  the  French,  fausser,  meant  cheat, 
or  trick ;  but  it  may  be  heard  in  the  sense  of  ''  put 
upon;"  as,  "don't  try  to  foist  your  nonsense  on  me." 
This  is  an  analogous,  though  not  the  same  meaning. 
Also,  in  the  sense  of  bringing  in  irrelevant  matter,  as 
''h.Q  foisted  into  his  speech."  This  word  seems  of  low 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  4*7 

origin ;  it  formerly  meant  a  pickpocket.     In  Dekker's 
"Bellman  in  London,"  there  are  these  lines  : — 

*'  He  that  cuts  the  purse,  is  called  the  nip  ; 
He  that  is  half  with  him,  is  the  sneap,  or  cloyer ; 
He  that  picks  the  pocket,  is  called  the  foist; 
He  that  faceth  the  man,  is  the  stale." 

This  is  a  departure  from  the  proper  and  original 
meaning.  Used  by  Dyce,  in  Middleton's  ''Roaring 
Girl." 
Fox,  to  get  drunk.  I  have  never  heard  this,  but  a  wri- 
ter in  a  newspaper  says  that  he  heard  it,  in  one  of  the 
Southern  States,  used  by  an  intoxicated  tavern-keeper 
to  describe  his  condition.  It  is  an  old  word ;  Tod's 
Johnson  has  it.  In  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "  Fair 
Maid  of  the  Inn,"  we  find  it:  "Your  Dutchman,  in- 
deed, when  he  is  foxed  is  like  a  fox  ;  for  when  he's 
sunk  in  drink,  quite  earth  to  a  man's  thinking,  'tis  full 
exchange  time  with  him ;  then  he's  subtlest. "  The  wri- 
ter in  the  newspaper  quotes  Taylor,  the  "  Water  poet." 
It  seems  to  have  been  in  general  use  two  or  three  hun- 
dred years  ago,  rather  as  a  low  word. 

"  Where  is  Simonides,  our  friendly  host?" 

"Ah,  blind  as  one  that  had  been  foxed  a  sevennight!" 

Middleton's  Mayor  of  Queenborough. 

"  The  grayer  citizens  were  foxed  that  day 
AVith  beer  and  joy  most  soundly  paid." 

Fractious,  for  fretful,  quarrelsome.  (Britton.)  Be- 
sides these,  we  say  a  fractious  horse,  meaning  violent 
and  vicious. 


48  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Fresh,  for  intoxicated,  or  tipsy,  is  also  common  among 
us. 

Fromity,  or  Frumty.  An  excellent  country  mess,  made 
in  the  farm-houses  at  Christmas.  (Ilallamshire  Glos- 
sary.) The  wheat,  after  being  "creed,"  is  boiled  with 
a  proper  portion  of  milk;  sugar  and  spice  are  then 
added.  The  process  of  creeing  consists  in  placing 
the  grain,  from  which  the  outer  coat  has  previously 
been  removed,  in  an  earthen  vessel,  with  a  quan-tity  of 
water  just  sufficient  to  cover  it.  The  vessel  is  then 
closed,  and  placed  in  a  slow  oven  for  twelve  or  four- 
teen hours.  We  are  told  that  a  mess  of  this  sort  is 
known  in  Maryland,  and  by  the  above  name.  In 
Johnson's  Dictionary,  it  is  derived  from  frumentu7n, 
the  Latin  for  corn  or  grain  in  general.  Junius,  in 
his  "  Etymologicon  Anglicanum,"  derives  it  from  the 
Saxon  word  feorm,  provision  of  any  kind.  We  in- 
cline toward  this  origin,  rather  than  the  more  classi- 
cal, simply  because  it  was  a  dish  of  the  country,  and 
was  universal  among  the  Saxons,  who  handed  it  to 
every  new-comer  as  an  earnest  of  their  hospitality. 
Neither  the  language  nor  customs  of  the  Romans 
would  stand  much  chance  of  descending  among  the 
entire  mass  of  the  Britons,  to  the  exclusion  of  the 
old  long-practiced  habits  of  this  people  or,  the  Sax- 
ons ;  and  then  we  feel  more  comfortable  in  the  suppo- 
sition that  it  is  a  Saxon  word — a  kind  of  moral  con- 
sciousness that  it  is  worth  something,  even  in  debated 
matters  of  philosophy.  It  is  in  Beaumont  and  Fletch- 
er's "Coxcomb:" — 


GLOSSARY   or   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  49 

"She  burst,  herself,  and  foncllj'^,  if  it  be  so, 
With  frumety  at  a  churching." 

Frump.  We  sometimes  hear  this  word  applied  to  a  per- 
son (generally  old)  as  signifying  cross,  or  ill-tempered. 
He  or  she  is  an  old  frump.  It  is  the  old  meaning, 
though  somewhat  varied  ;  it  formerly  applied  to  man- 
ners.    In  "Green's  James  lY."  we  have — 

"If  we  but  enter  presence  of  his  grace, 
Our  payment  is  a  frown,  a  scoff,  a,frii}?ip." 

As  a  verb,  to  frump,  I  do  not  remember  to  have 
heard  it,  though  in  use  in  some  parts  of  England ; 
but,  with  the  meaning  we  give  it,  it  is  heard  in  Suf- 
folk and  Norfolk,  while  the  old  sense,  of  jeer,  or  taunt, 
is  unknown. 

Fuddle,  to  drink  to  excess.  (Brockett.)  We  mean  by 
it  rather  stupefied  by  liquor,  than  complete  intoxica- 
tion. 

Fudge,  for  fabulous.  (Brockett.)  "It's  all  sl  fudge, ^^  is 
common  here. 

Full  drive,  is  common  here,  for  rapid,  or,  perhaps, 
heedless,  as  well  as  rapid,  driving.  I  have  never 
heard  it  in  Chaucer's  sense  of  "completed." 

"  This  bargain  is  full  drive,  for  we  ben  knit." 

Frankeleine's  Tale,  line  11,542. 

Full  butt,  full  smack,  full  split,  are  synonyms  of 
full  drive;  also  another  word,  whose  etymology  is 
not  obvious:  "there  he  goes,  lickity  split."  How 
this  has  been  compounded  does  not  strike  us  at  a  first 
view. 

5 


50  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Funeral.  There  is  some  slight  difference  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  these  solemnities  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
country,  though  I  know  not  what  they  are.  But  the 
old  custom  of  giving  wine  and  cake  has,  in  turn,  I  be- 
lieve, long  since  gone  out.  In  the  only  rural  district, 
that  of  the  County  of  Chester,  in  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  it  has  been  my  ill  fortune  to  follow  a  friend 
and  neighbor  to  the  grave,  the  old  English  custom  of  a 
meal,  on  a  large  scale,  is  still  continued.  Most  of  those 
who  attend  i\iQ  funeral,  return  to  the  house  from  which 
the  deceased  was  carried,  and  dine.  Of  course  there  is 
no  liquor,  nor  is  there  anything  convivial  on  the  occa- 
sion. It  is  nothing  more  than  an  entertaining  of 
those  who  have  come  a  long  distance  to  show  their 
respect  for  the  dead. 

Funk,  for  fear.  He's  in  a  terrible  funh,  for  very  much 
frightened,  is  a  common  expression.  But  what  is  its 
origin,  I  know  not. 

Fuss,  for  excessive  hustle.  (Hunter's  Hallamshire  Glos- 
sary.) 

Fussy.  A  fussy  person  means,  with  us,  a  restless,  im- 
patient, officious  sort  of  a  creature ;  one  who  cannot 
bear  his  own  idleness,  and  puts  on  the  air  of  business 
to  impose  on  himself  and  others.  He  seems  lively, 
and  energetic,  though  in  reality  inefficient;  always 
bustling  about,  but  doing  nothing. 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  51 


G. 

Gab.  An  old  word,  used  by  Chaucer,  for  talking  idly, 
is  still  frequent  in  New  England;  and  also  the  expres- 
sion, "he  has  the  gift  of  the  gah,''''  for  one  who  speaks 
readily,  or  who  has  an  off-hand  use  of  words ;  not 
oppressed  by  ideas. 

Gal,  for  girl,  that  every  New  Englandman  has  heard  so 
often,  is  from  Essex. 

Gallanting.  Wandering  about  in  gayety  and  en- 
joyment; applied  chiefly  to  the  associations  of  the 
sexes.  "He's  gone  a  gallanting,''^  is  common  in  New 
England.  (Jennings,  on  the  West  of  England  dia- 
lects.) 

Game  leg,  a  lame  leg.  (Grose.)  Heard  here  in  a  ludi- 
crous or  burlesque  sense.  Gam,  Celtic  for  leg.  (Tod's 
Johnson.) 

Gawby,  (Grose ;)  Gaby,  (Britton.)  Pronounced  like 
the  last  of  these  two  words.  This  word  is  heard 
occasionally,  meaning  the  same  unhappy  condition  of 
understanding  as  those  two  writers  give  for  it  in  Eng- 
land, viz.,  a  dunce,  a  fool,  a  blockhead. 

Gawky,  for  awkward.  North  of  England.  Scott's 
character  of  "Dominie  Sampson,"  gives  a  good  idea 
of  the  application  of  this  word.  It  is  common  in 
New  England,  and  always  implies  height,  as  well  as 
awkwardness.  A  man  whose  body,  in  its  several  parts, 
appears  to  be  directed  by  several  different  and  oppos- 
ing wills ;  whose  legs  move  one  way,  while  his  arms 


52  GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

fling  and  flap  in  another;  his  head  seems  to  dislike  its 
vertical  position,  so  as  to  roll  about  as  in  search  of 
some  place  where  it  would  be  more  at  ease  ;  and 
whose  trunk  appears  disjointed,  and  even  somewhat 
disgusted  with  any  familiarity  or  companionship  with 
its  fellow  members ;  while  his  stature  is  so  considera- 
ble that  any  bend  or  bow  gives  you  uneasiness,  lest  he 
may  not  know  how  to  get  up  again :  such  a  one  we 
call  a  gawky  person,  or  a  gawk.  To  gawk  about,  to 
stare  vacantly,  like  a  countryman  on  his  first  visit  to 
a  large  town,  appears,  according  to  Holloway,  to  be 
in  use  in  Hampshire  and  Sussex.  The  expression  is 
common  in  New  England. 

Gee,  to  agree,  or  go  on  well  together.  (Britton.)  This 
is  common  with  us,  in  this  sense.  Gegan  is  the  An- 
glo-Saxon for  to  go. 

Geer,  for  furniture,  utensils^  harness.  To  geer,  or 
gear,  to  dress ;  snugly  geered,  neatly  dressed  ;  doctor's 
geer,  apothecary's  drugs.  Grose  gives  the  first  of 
these  as  in  use  in  the  North  of  England,  the  last  as  a 
Norfolk  peculiarity.  The  only  way  in  which  I  have  ever 
heard  it  employed  in  this  country,  has  been  for  har- 
ness. To  gear  up,  for  to  harness  a  horse ;  and  gearing, 
for  the  harness,  are  common  expressions  among  the 
farmers  in  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia.  I  do  not 
remember  it  in  New  England.  Gear  is  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  for  apparatus.  It  once  meant  affair,  matter. 
"That  gear  cottons  well,"  is  in  Middleton.  This  ap- 
plication of  the  word  cotton,  difi'ers  from  that  occa- 
sionally heard,  "I  cotton  to  him,  or  her." 


GLOSSAHY   or    SUPPOSED   AMEPJCAMSMS.  o3 

Gibberish.  Xonsensical  prattle  of  children.  (Hallam- 
shire  Glossary. )  Anv  confused  and  half-nnintelligible 
harangue,  without  distinguishing  the  years  of  the 
speaker,  will  be  called  gibberish  here.  The  word  is 
common;  it  is  an  old  word,  and  its  derivation  still 
unsettled. 

Gist,  or  jtnt,  ioT  joint .  (Exmoor  Dialect.)  This  mar  be 
heard  every  day  in  Xew  England.  * 

GEr>L  A  gloomy,  discontented  look  is  called  glum. 
Grum  means  rather  a  stern,  severe  expression.  (Hal- 
lamshire  Glossary.)  Both  are  Saxon,  and  both  fre- 
quently used  among  us. 

Gob.  the  mouth.  TVe  do  not  apply -this  word,  in  Xew 
England,  to  the  mouth,  but  to  what  is  thrown  from  it. 
It  is  a  low  word.  Gob  may  be  a  corruption  of  gobbet, 
a  word  used  by  Shakspeare  and  Spenser,  and  mean- 
ing morsels.  The  preliminary  movement  before  the 
phlegm  is  thrown  from  the  mouth,  we  call  hawking; 
in  the  South  of  England,  they  say  cawking  and  spit- 
ting.    Keuchen,  is  a  Belgian  word,  to  cough. 

Goixgs-ox.     Is  from  Essex.    ''WeU,   now,   these   are. 
pretty  goings-on .'"'    How  often  has  every  mischievous 
boy  heard  this  I 

Gbeat.  To  be  great  with  a  person,  is  to  be  on  terms  of 
intimacy  or  friendship  with  one.  Probably  the  full 
form  would  be,  to  be  in  great  estimation  with.  (Hal- 
lamshire  Glossary.)  This  is  an  ancient  expression, 
and  common  here,  though  rather  among  children  than 
any  one  else. 

Grime.     Mr.  Hunter,  in  the  Hallamshire  Glossary,  says 
5* 


64  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

this  word  means,  in  the  dialect  of  which  he  treats, 
dirt  laid  superficially.  We  use  it  in  the  strongest 
sense^  of  dirt  deeply  insinuated  into  the  skin. 

Grit,  for  sand.  (Grose.)  Such  a  one  has  the  real  grit 
in  him,  is  a  common  expression  for  energy  of  charac- 
ter.    We  have  never  heard  it  for  sand. 

Groundsill,  the  threshold  of  a  door.  This  may 
be  heard  in  precisely  the  same  meaning  in  New  Eng- 
land. 

Guess,  to  suppose,  to  believe.  (Craven  Glossary.)  Mr. 
Pickering  says  this  word  is  used  in  Kent,  England,  in 
the  same  way  as  in  New  England.  We  also  have 
it,  in  Yorkshire,*  with  the  same  meaning.  The  Yan- 
kees have  been  and  are  outrageously  quizzed  by  Eng- 
lishmen and  their  own  countrymen  about  this  word. 
It  is  as  good  as  any  other,  and  not  used  in  any 
peculiar  sense,  but  according  to  its  real  meaning ;  ge- 
nerally a  Yankee  who  guesses,  is  quite  certain  as  to 
what  he  expresses  a  doubt. 

GuMPSHON,  or  GUMPTION.  Common  sense  combined  with 
energy;  shrewd  intelligence ;  a  superior  understanding. 
An  excellent  word  of  high  antiquity.  (Brockett.)  This 
word  is  heard  very  often,  but  not  seriously.  When 
used,  however,  it  is  applied  in  the  sense  given  by 
Brockett.  Grose  derives  it  from  gawm,  to  understand. 

Gunner,  a  shooter;  gunning,  the  sport  of  shooting. 
(Forby.)  Both  of  these  words  have  been  sources  of 
ridicule  against  us,  with  English  writers.  They  have 
been  considered  as  peculiar,  but  our  ancestors  must 
now  take  the  responsibility;  and  any  American  who 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  55 

feels  ashamed  in  using  language  the  English  do  not 
approve,  may  be  now  encouraged,  and  say,  "I  am  go- 
ing a  gnnning,''^  without  the  fear  of  the  British. 
Beaumont  and  Fletcher  have  it  more  than  once. 
Gummed.  In  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "  Woman  Hater," 
I  find,  "She  has  never,  boy,  been  gummed  or  fretted." 
It  is  said  to  be  derived  from  velvet,  stiffened  by  gum, 
and  chafing  the  wearer.  I  remember,  as  a  boy,  an 
expression,  ''that's  rather  gumming,''^  meaning,  likely 
to  annoy.  I  have  never  heard  it  since.  It  appears 
to  be  the  same  word.  By  gom,  or  gum,  a  vulgar  oath, 
and  not  uncommon  among  us,  is  from  Essex. 

H. 

Hacking  cough.     This  common  expression  Holloway 

gives  as  belonging  to  l^J'orfolk  and  South  of  England. 

A  faint,  tickling  cough,  is  its   Norfolk  meaning;    a 

short,  hard,  cutting  cough,  the  Southern.     The  last  is 

our  application  of  the  term. 
Half-saved,  for  half-witted.  (Hereford  Glossary.)  This 

is  a  very  common  New  England  word,  in  the  above 

sense. 
Halla-baloo,  for  noise,  uproar,  clamor.     (Brockett.) 

Common  in  this  country. 
Halves.     The  going  halves,  as  boys  called  it,  when 

anything  was  found,  is  an  old  custom  derived  from  the 

North  of  England.   "  Come,  let  us  go  halves. " 
Hames.    Two  movable  pieces  of  wood,  or  iron,  fastened 

upon  the  collar,  with  suitable  appendages  for  attaching 


56  GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

a  liorse  to  the  shafts.  (Jeniiing's  "West  of  England  Dia- 
lect.) The  collar  by  which  a  horse  draws  in  a  wagon. 
(Tod's  Johnson.)  We  do  not  remember  to  have  heard 
this  word  in  New  England.  Among  the  farmers  of 
Chester  County,  Pennsylvania,  it  is  common,  and  in 
the  meaning  given  by  Jennings. 

Handy,  for  near,  adjoining.  (Jennings.)  He  lives  quite 
handy,  is  common  here ;  also,  he  is  a  handy  fellow, 
for  one  ready  and  active. 

Hankitcher.  The  handkerchief  was  frequently  so 
pronounced  in  New  England,  and  is  now  so  called  in 
the  dialects  of  Westmoreland  and  Cumberland.  Han- 
kerchar,  is  the  Essex  pronunciation.  It  was  proba- 
bly commonly  so  pronounced  two  centuries  ago.  In 
Middleton's  "Roaring  Girl,"  there  is  this  oath,  "I 
swear  by  the  tassels  of  this  hankercher  it  is  true." 

Hard  of  hearing.  This  common  expression  among 
us,  is  from  Essex;  and,  to  ''haul  over  the  coals,"  and 
to  "  hide,"  for  beat. 

Harum-scarum.  Wild,  unsettled ;  running  after  you 
know  not  what.  German,  herumschar,  a  wandering 
troop,  Scharen,  in  the  plural,  meaning  blackguards. 
(Brockett.)  The  only  use  we  make  of  this  word  is  to  im- 
ply heedlessness,  thoughtlessness.  A  harum-scarum 
sort  of  a  fellow,  may  be  heard  daily.  Schar,  in  Ger- 
man, means  a  crowd,  a  multitude;  herum,  about;  but 
the  word  schwarmen,  to  play  the  vagabond,  to  be 
wild,  dissipated,  or  unsettled,  or  to  have  no  fixed  pur- 
suit; or  the  word  schwarmer,  meaning  one  "qui  fait 
la  debauche,  qui  aime  les  divertissement  bruy antes," 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  61 

-  with  the  adverb,  would  make  a  better  derivation  than 
Broekett's.  Herum  schwarinen,  or  schwarmer, 
would  then  speak  for  themselves.  They  use,  how- 
ever, in  the  North  of  England,  a  word,  to  hare,  to 
frighten,  from  an  old  French  word,  Jiarier.  Harum- 
scarum  would  come  simply  enough  from  this. 

Hawk,  to  expectorate.  (Brockett.)  We  use  it  as  the 
preliminary  to  expectoration,  not  for  the  act  itself.  It 
is  an  old  word.  Tod's  Johnson  derives  it  from  the 
Welsh,  hocher,  to  throw  up  phlegm  with  a  noise. 

Hayty-tayty.  What's  here  ?  (Jennings.)  What's  the 
matter  ?  what's  all  this  about  ?    Common  among  us. 

Heap,  in  the  sense  of  a  large  quantity,  or  large  number, 
is  not  as  common  here  as  in  England,  though  I  have 
heard  it  among  farmers. 

Heft,  for  weight.  (Jennings.)  Did  you  heft  it?  It  is 
used  in  Wiltshire,  and  as  a  verb,  to  heft.  We  have 
heard  it,  in  New  England,  for  the  handle  of  an  ax. 

Helter-skelter.  In  great  haste,  disorderly.  (Brockett.) 
Used  in  this  sense,  very  common  here.  Its  etymology 
is  unsettled.     See  Tod's  Johnson,  in  voce. 

Hickelty-pickelty.  In  the  utmost  confusion.  (Brock- 
ett.) A  very  common  expression  among  us.  There 
seems  to  be  no  satisfactory  etymology  of  this  word.  To 
lie  huddled  together  like  pigs,  appears  a  probable  ori- 
gin, and  very  applicable  to  its  use. 

Hide,  to  beat;  hiding,  a  beating.  (Brockett  and  Jen- 
nings.) 

Hitch,  to  become  entangled  or  hooked  together.  (Jen- 
nings.) Hitch  your  horse  to  the  fence;  there's  a  hitch 


58  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

in  that  business ;  they  were  hitched  together.  These 
expressions  give  the  meanings  in  which  we  have  heard 
this  word  applied.  Also,  hitch  your  chair  a  little  far- 
ther along ;  also,  he's  got  a  hitch  in  his  gait  or  walk, 
for  a  slight  lameness. 

HiTY-TiTY.  Brockett  derives  this  from  the  French,  haute 
tete,  and  gives  to  it  the  meaning  haughty,  flighty. 
We  have  never  heard  it  in  this  sense ;  but  as  a  retort 
on  one  who  takes  airs  we  have  heard  it.  ^'Hity-tity 
miss  1"  Jennings,  from  height,  and  tite,  weight.  The 
board  on  which  see-saw  is  played,  is  called,  in  some 
parts  of  England,  a  tayty.  By  what  analogy  hity- 
tity  can  be  derived  from  this,  in  the  way  in  which  it 
is  generally  applied,  is  not  clear,  unless  it  be  heigh  to 
the  tayty,  or  hie.  Height,  aloud ;  to  speak  in  a  loud 
voice,  seems,  in  some  of  the  senses  in  which  it  is  em- 
ployed, a  more  correct  derivation,  but  whence  come 
tity,  or  taty,  puzzles  us  as  much  as  it  does  the  other 
glossaries.  Little  children  in  see-sawing  might  cry, 
'7wgr/i  to  the  sky,"  and  thence  this  expression.  I  do 
not  know,  however,  whether  any  children  ever  did  so 
cry.  This  is  often  pronounced,  by  little  children,  ''ity 
up  in  the  ty.^^  Mighty  is  given,  in  the  Craven  Dialect, 
as  a  child's  word  for  a  horse ;  and  as  tayty  is  a  board, 
and  ridden  astraddle,  this  may  be  defined  highty-ty-ty. 
In  the  "Suppliants  of  ^schylus,"  we  have  "otototo 
toi." 

HoBBr-TY-HOY.  Jennings  believes  this  word  to  be  sim- 
ply Hobby  the  Hoyden,  or  Robert  the  Hoyden,  or 
Hoyt.     Hoyden  was  once  applied  to  the  male  sex. 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  59 

See  Tod's  Johnson,  under  the  word  hoiden;  and  hoit 
is  a  North  Country  word  for  an  awkward  boy.  The 
using  ea  for  en,  was  among  the  first  changes  of  our 
language.  At  first,  housen,  for  houses ;  ourn,  for  ours ; 
hern,  for  hers;  hisen,  for  his,  etc.,  was  universal;  af- 
terwards the  n  softened  into  s.  Those  words,  ourn, 
etc.,  among  the  vulgar,  were  once  good  English,  and 
the  Yankees  have  a  prescriptive  right  to  their  use. 

Hoist.  This,  derived  from  haurio,  to  draw  up,  has  a 
peculiar  meaning  in  this  country.  We  not  only  say 
hoist  or  hist  it  up,  but  we  use  it  as  the  substantive, 
and  say,  "he  got  a  deuce  of  a  Ziois^,"  meaning  a 
fall. 

Hominy.  This  material,  so  well  known  among  us,  I 
find  called  homine,  in  an  old  book  in  the  Philadelphia 
Library,  entitled  "A  New  Dictionary  of  the  Terms, 
Ancient  and  Modern,  of  the  Canting  Crew,  in  its 
several  Tribes  of  Gipsies,  Beggars,  Thieves,  Cheats," 
etc.,  printed  in  London,  but  no  date  given.  It  is 
defined  there,  Indian-corn. 

Honor  bright.  A  protestation  of  honor  among  the 
vulgar.  (Brockett.)  A  very  common  expression  among 
us. 

Hop,  to  dance.  (Brockett.)  This  is  still  used  in  the 
country,  in  New  England,  and  is  not  inappropriate,  to 
judge  from  what  we  have  seen  of  it.  It  is,  however, 
an  old  word,  from  the  Saxon,  and  is  used  by  Chaucer : 

"To  hoppe  and  sing,  and  maken  swiche  disport." 

Hop,  the  substantive,  though  brought  very  naturally 


60  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

from  the  verb,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  made  use 
of  by  Chaucer. 

Hopple,  to  tie  the  legs  together.  (Brockett.)  This  is, 
in  this  country,  for  fastening  a  horse's  legs,  so  that  he 
can  neither  run  nor  leap. 

Hop-score.  This  well-known  game  we  call  hop-scotch. 
It  is  played  in  the  same  way  as  in  England.  It  is  only 
mentioned  in  the  Hallamshire  Glossary. 

HousEN,  for  houses.  An  old  Saxon  word,  and  still  used 
in  the  West  of  England;  sometimes  heard  in  New 
England. 

HowsoMEVER,  or  HOWSOMNEVER,  for  hoivevcr.  (Brock- 
ett.)    Is  a  common  vulgarism  here. 

Huddle.  To  gather  together,  to  embrace.  (Brockett.) 
To  be  mixed  together  confusedly,  is  one  use  of  the 
word. 

Huff,  to  offend.  (Brockett.)  To  huff  one;  or,  he  s 
huffed;  or,  in  a  huff,  are  all  common  here.  Bread 
is  said  to  huff,  when  it  begins  to  rise,  in  some  of  the 
provincial  dialects  of  England. 

Hunch,  a  lump;  as  a  hunch  of  bread  and  cheese. 
(Hereford  Glossary.)  We  have  a  word  not  uncom- 
mon in  this  country,  hunk,  of  exactly  the  above 
meaning,  probably  corrupted  from  hunch.  Its  use 
appears  to  be  limited  to  bread  and  butter  and  cheese  ; 
at  least,  I  do  not  remember  it  but  in  connection  with 
these  useful  articles. 

HuNDRUM.  A  small,  low,  three-wheeled  cart,  drawn  usu- 
ally by  one  horse  ;  used  in  agriculture.  (Jennings.) 
See  Tod's  Johnson,  for  its  origin.     We  say,  "he's  a 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  61 

hundrum  sort  of  a  fellow,"  for  a  dull,  prosy  person  : 
it  is  frequent  here. 
Husking.  At  the  time  when  the  husks  are  to  be  re- 
moved from  the  corn,  the  neighbors,  male  and  female, 
meet  to  aid  in  the  operation.  It  is  a  rural  frolic  or 
merry-making,  with  the  usual  amount  of  coarse  fun. 

I. 

Iddicasion,  for  education.  This  Yorkshire  method  of 
pronouncing  this  word  is  not  unfrequent  in  New  Eng- 
land. 

Inkling,  a  desire,  an  inclination.  This  word  is  given 
by  Grose,  Brockett,  and  Hunter,  and  with  the  same 
meaning  by  each.  It  is  common  in  this  country,  in 
the  same  sense.  Its  derivation  is  not  decided  by  ety- 
mologists.   (See  Tod's  Johnson.) 

Is.  Is  constantly  used  among  the  vulgar  for  the  first 
and  second  persons  of  the  verb  to  he.  (Brockett.) 
It  is  with  us:  "Yes,  I  2s;"  "z's  you?"  Also,  ''Be 
you?"  and,  "yes,  I  be." 


Zaseyr,^ov  garrulity.  (Brockett.)  "  Stop  your ya66er," 
was  a  common  and  expressive  term,  not  many  years 
ago,  and  I  presume  may  be  heard  now ;  an  old  word. 

Jam,  to  squeeze  into,  to  render  firm  hy  treading. 
(Brockett.)  In  the  first  sense,  not  in  the  second,  it  is 
a  word  in  common  use. 

6 


62  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED  AIVIERICANISMS. 

Jarr.  The  door  stands  ojar,  or  half-open.  (Grose,  who 
gives  it  as  a  ]N'orfolk  word.)  Tod's  Johnson  derives  it 
from  the  Latin  gyrus,  a  turning  about.  In  universal 
use  in  this  country.  Holloway,  in  his  Dictionary  of 
Provincialisms,  derives  ajar  from  guerre,  war ;  figura- 
tively, confusing,  clashing.  Shaking  a  door  ajar,  is  a 
door  partially  open,  liable  to  be  shaken  or  moved  easily. 
I  cannot  confide  in  this  idea. 

Jatjm,  or  JAMB,  the  door-post,  or  side-front  of  a  win- 
dow. This  is  the  definition  of  Grose.  We  generally 
or  universally  apply  it  to  the  sides  of  the  chimney.  It 
is  a  North  Country  word,  from  the  French  jambe,  a 
leg. 

Jaw,  for  noisy  speech,  coarse  raillery.  (Brockett.) 
''  Hold  yourjaii;,"  for  hold  your  tongue,  may  be  heard 
frequently  here. 

Jiffy,  for  in  a  moment.'  (Brockett  and  Britton.)  To  do 
a  thing  in  a  jiffy,  is  common  here. 

Jimmy,  for  neat,  slender,  elegant.  (Brockett.)  We  some- 
times hear,  "he's  a  ji'm??i7/-looking  fellow."  Forby 
has  gim  and  gemmy,  which  he  derives  from  givymp. 

Jill,  or  gill,  a  pint.  A  Yorkshire  word,  according  to 
Grose.  It  is  curious  that  in  some  parts  of  England 
the  gill  is  a  fourth  of  a  pint,  in  some  a  half,  and  in 
Yorkshire  a  whole  pint.  We  mean  by  it  here,  all  the 
country  over,  a  fourth  of  a  pint.  Gillo  is  the  Latin 
for  gill,  and  probably  the  origin  of  it. 

Joggle,  to  shake.  (Brockett.)  This  word  was  common 
with  boys:  "don't  joggle  me;"  "you  joggled  my 
elbow,  and  made  me  spoil  my  copy." 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  63 

Jog-trot.  An  inactive,  or  any  peculiar  line  of  conduct, 
pertinaciously  adhered  to.  (Brockett.)  "He  keeps  along 
in  a  regular  jog-trot,''^  and,  ''he  leads  a  jog-trot  sort 
of  a  life,"  are  familiar  expressions  among  us. 

Jollification.  A  scene  of  festivity  or  merriment. 
(Brockett.)  ''We  had  quite  a  jolUficatioyi,''^  may  be 
occasionally  heard. 

K. 

Keep,  to  lodge.  Where  do  you  keep^  and  keeping-room, 
for  drawing-room,  are  peculiar  expressions  in  New 
England. 

Keow.  This  is  the  Cheshire  pronunciation  of  cow,  ac- 
cording to  Jennings.  The  Yankees  use  it,  and  have 
been  ridiculed,  therefore,  by  their  own  countrymen  and 
foreigners.  They  also  say  keaf,  for  calf,  but  they  do 
not  say  ky,  for  cows,  as  in  Cheshire,  but  keows. 

Kelter,  or  kilter,  for  frame,  order,  condition. 
(Grose  and  Brockett.)  We  often  hear,  "a  thing  is 
out  of  kilter, ^^  for  out  of  order,  and  it  appears  to  be 
in  common  use  in  the  North  of  England.  The  addi- 
tion of  lielter,  making  helter-skelter,  or  all  in  confu- 
sion, puzzles  the  etymologists.  Grose  says  helter,  is 
to  hang,  therefore  helter-skelter,  is  to  "hang  all  order." 
This  is  not  entirely  satisfactory,  and  it  very  probably 
arose  from  some  familiar  and  local  peculiarity  or  cus- 
tom, now  lost.  The  German  kelter  pressoir,  a  press, 
may  be  its  origin.  Hence,  anything  "out  of  kelter,''^ 
would  mean  that  it  had  lost  the  smooth  and  neat  ap- 


64  GLOSSARY    OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

pearance  anything  has  after  being  pressed.  It  is  also 
a  cant  word  for  money,  in  some  parts  of  the  North  of 
England.  But  I  am  inclined  to  derive  it  from  culter, 
the  coulter  of  a  plow ;  anything  out  of  kelter,  would 
then  be  something  which  had  lost  that  which  made  it 
useful,  or  be  ''without  a  kelter,''^  vihioh.  may  be  the 
proper  phrase. 

Kidney,  for  disposition,  principles,  humor.  (Brock- 
ett.)  We  often  hear,  "a  man  of  his  kidney,''''  though 
it  generally  implies  something  bad  of  a  man;  that  he 
is  of  a  bad  disposition,  or  bad  principles. 

Kettle  of  fish.  This  is  a  Sussex  and  Hampshire  ex- 
pression, for  a  confused  and  perplexed  condition  of 
one's  affairs.  "  This  is  a  pretty  kettle  of  fishP^  means 
it  is  a  bad  business,  from  which  one  does  not  see  how 
to  extricate  himself  readily.  It  is  common  in  Xew 
England. 

KiDNEY-TATiE.  A  long  kind  of  potato,  much  culti- 
vated in  the  neighborhood  of  Newcastle.  (Brockett.) 
The  kidney  potato  is  well  known  here,  only  we  do 
not  say  iatie. 

Kind  o',  after  a  kind,  or  manner.  A  Norfolk  and  Suf- 
folk word,  according  to  Holloway.  The  people  of 
New  England  make  great  use  of  it,  though  by  those 
who  are  unacquainted  with  its  source  it  is  spelt  kinder; 
as,  he's  got  a  kind  o'  unsettled;  he  seemed  a  kind  o' 
unhappy. 

Kisses.  Small  confections  or  sugar-plums.  (Brockett.) 
Shakspeare  has  kissing  comfits,  in  his  "Meriy  Wives 
of  Windsor."    Falstafif  cries  out,  "Hail  kissing  com- 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  65 

fits  and  mowlringoes."  Kisses  may  be  had  at  our  own 
confectioners. 

KiST,  for  chest.  (Brockett.)  This  appears  a  common 
word  in  several  Northern  languages ;  it  may  be  heard 
here,  but  not  frequently.  Cist  a  is  the  Latin  word,  and 
is  as  likely  to  be  the  root,  as  Dutch,  Welsh,  German, 
or  Saxon. 

Kit.  a  set,  or  company ;  generally  in  a  contemptuous 
light.  (Brockett.)  "The  whole  kit  of  them,"  is  a  fre- 
quent expression,  and  partaking  somewhat  of  the  con- 
temptuous. 

KivvER.  Holloway  gives  this  as  a  Lincolnshire  word. 
It  is  almost  invariably  pronounced  among  a  large  por- 
tion of  New  England  for  cover.  Forby  has  it.  Chau- 
cer uses  kevere. 

Knock,  io  stii^  or  to  ivork  briskly.  (Forby.)  ''I  have 
been  knocking  round,  or  about,  all  day;"  and,  "I  am 
quite  knocked  up."  The  first  of  these  phrases  is  near 
Forby's  meaning.  I  have  known  a  kindred  phrase  to 
this,  used  by  a  Yankee  in  London:  ''I  have  been 
smashing  round  considerable  to-day."  Both  imply 
activity. 

Knowed,  for  knew.  This  Essex  corruption  we  preserve. 
"I  never  knowed  nothing  on  it,"  may  be  heard  in 
New  England,  and  not  very  far  from  Philadelphia. 


6* 


66  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 


Lace,  to  heat  or  flog.  ''I'll  lace  your  jacket;"  also, 
lacing,  a  beating.  (Brockett.)  A  common  expression 
here. 

Lady-bug,  or  bird.  For  some  reason,  perhaps  its 
beauty,  this  little  insect  has  attracted  the  affectionate 
interest  of  several  Northern  nations.  We  inherit  ours 
from  our  English  ancestors ;  they  derived  theirs,  pro- 
bably, from  some  of  their  Northern  invaders.  Joseph 
Hunter,  in  the  Hallamshire  Glossary,  says  that  he 
found  the  word  in  a  small  volume,  entitled  "  German 
Popular  Stories;"  that  the  little  song — 

^'Lady-cow,  lady-cow,  fly  thy  way  home, 
Thy  house  is  on  fire,  thy  children  all  gone  I" 

was  as  well  known  to  the  children  of  Suabia  as  to 
those  of  England ;  and  it  is  as  familiar  to  us  as  to 
either.  It  is  held  extremely  unlucky  to  kill  a  cricket, 
a  lady-hug,  a  swallow,  martin,  robin  red-breast,  or 
wren — perhaps  from  its  being  a  breach  of  hospi- 
tality, all  those  birds  and  insects  taking  refuge  in 
houses.  (Grove's  Popular  Superstitions.) 
Lang-saddle,  or  settle.  A  long  wooden  seat,  with  a 
back  and  arms,  usually  placed  in  the  chimney-corner 
in  country  houses.  (Brockett.)  Under  the  name  of 
settle,  this  is  an  article  of  furniture  in  very  common 
use  in  New  England.  It  is  generally  very  high  in  the 
back  and  narrow  in  the  seat,  and  long  enough  for  six 


•   GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  61 

or  eight  people  to  sit  upon ;  but  economical  and  socia- 
ble as  it  may  be,  it  is  far  from  comfortable,  being  in  no 
way  calculated  for  an  easy  lounge.  It  has,  however, 
its  pleasant  associations.  To  come  into  an  inn,  late 
at  night,  in  the  depth  of  winter,  and  to  find  the  settle 
drawn  before  a  blazing  fire,  and  a  mug  of  flip  brew- 
ing, will  always  fix  it  in  the  memory  agreeably,  not- 
withstanding its  high,  perpendicular  back,  and  narrow, 
hard  seat.     We  only  say  settle,  not  lang-settle. 

Lapsided,  deformed  on  one  side;  as  though  one  part 
lapped  over  another.  (Hollo way.)  This  word  belongs 
to  Norfolk,  Sussex,  and  Hampshire.  It  is  not  uncom- 
mon here.  Holloway  thinks  it  is  from  a  Teutonic 
word,  lopped,  to  move  awkwardly ;  but  we  prefer  lap, 
in  its  usual  acceptation,  to  fold  over,  to  lie  over. 

Larrup,  to  heat.  A  Norfolk,  Sussex,  and  Hampshire 
word,  in  common  use  here.     Its  original  is  disputed. 

Lat,  a  lath;  as  thin  as  a  lat.  Brockett  gives  this  as  a  cant 
phrase  of  the  North  of  England.  We  have  the  same, 
but  never  say  lat,  but  lathe. 

Learn,  to  teach.  Brockett  says  that  this  way  of  using  it 
is  not  obsolete  in  the  North  of  England.  It  is  uni- 
versal in  New  England,  among  a  certain  portion  of 
the  population.  It  is  an  old  word,  and  used  by  Shak- 
speare,  in  "Othello." 

Leather,  to  heat.  (Grose.)  A  North  of  England  word. 
We  say,  to  lather:  ''I'll  lather  him;"  no  doubt  the 
same  word,  though  most  persons  would  suppose  it  to 
be  derived  from  the  lather  of  soap ;  as  if  an  applica- 


68  GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

tion  to  the  man's  skin  would  produce  something  anala- 
gous  to  the  bubble  and  foam  of  that  material. 
Leatherhead,  a  blockhead;  a  thick-skull.  (Brockett.) 
We  use  the  adjective,  leatherheaded,  but  not  often  the 
substantive.  Lantliorn  Leatherhead  is  a  luminous 
numskull  in  Ben  Jonson's  "Bartholomew  Fair,"  and 
played  the  part  of  a  seller  of  hobby-horses,  in  that 
drama.  Whether  Jonson  was  the  first  to  put  forth 
the  term,  I  know  not.  He  appears,  however,  a  dis- 
tinguished character,  and  probably  from  the  long  en- 
durance of  his  fame,  a  very  popular  person  in  his 
day.  Giflford,  in  a  note  on  this  name,  says  that  tradi- 
tion gives  it  as  a  satire  on  Inigo  Jones,  the  architect. 
We  extract  a  portion  of  a  scene,  that  bears  out  this 
idea : — 

Scene — The  Fair  ;  Booths  and  Stalls  set  out ;  Lanthorn  Leather- 
head,  Joan  Trash,  and  others,  sitting  by  their  icarcs. 

Leath.  The  fair's  pestilence  dead,  methinks;  people  come 
not  abroad  to-day,  whatever  the  matter  is.  Do  you  hear,  Sis- 
ter Trash,  lady  of  the  basket  ?  Sit  farther  with  your  ginger- 
bread progeny,  and  hinder  not  the  prospect  of  my  shop;  or 
I'll  have  it  proclaimed  in  the  fair,  what  stuff  they  are  made  on. 

Trash.  Why,  what  stuff  are  they  made  on,  Brother  Lea- 
therhead ?     Nothing  but  what's  wholesome,  I  assure  you. 

Leath.  Yes;  stale  bread,  rotten  eggs,  musty  ginger,  and 
dead  honey,  you  know. 

Over.  Ay,  have  I  met  with  enormity  so  soon!      [Aside. 

Leath.  I  shall  mar  your  market,  old  Joan, 

Trash.  Mar  my  market,  thou  too  proud  pedlar!  Do  thy 
worst ;  I  defy  thee,  I,  and  thy  stable  of  hobby-horses.  I 
pay  for  my  ground,  as  well  as  thou  dost:  an  thou  wrong'st 
me,  for  all  thou  art  parcel-poet,  and  an  ingineer,  I'll  find  a 


GLOSSARY  OP   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  69 

friend  shall  right  me,  and  make  a  ballad  of  thee  and  thy 
cattle  all  over.  Are  you  puft  up  with  the  pride  of  your 
"wares  ?   your  arsedine  ? 

The  two  words  in  italics  are  the  supposed  allusions  to 
Jones.  There  are  other  passages  that  strengthen  the 
impression  of  Leathet^head  being  a  satirical  personifi- 
cation of  Inigo.  Very  few  of  those,  however,  who 
use  the  word  as  one  of  contempt,  fancy  that  they  are 
libeling  a  great  genius. 
Leef,  or  LiEVE,  for  willirigly.  (Grose.)  Used  in  the 
South  of  England.  We  say,  "I  had  as  lieve,  or  leef, 
not  do  it,"  meaning,  I  had  rather  not  do  it.  We  also 
say,  ''I  had  as  lives,  or  leef,  do  it  as  not,"  meaning 
if  there  is  any  occasion,  I  am  quite  ready  or  willing 
to  do  it,  and  that  it  would  not  be  disagreeable  to  me 
to  do  it.  It  is  an  old  Saxon  word ;  one  of  its  mean- 
ings is  desire,  inclination;  as,  in  Chaucer's  ''Monke's 
Prologue  :" — 

"  Thou  wouldest  han  ben,  a  trede  foul  a  right, 
Haddest  thou  as  great  leve  as  thou  hast  might." 

Another  is  agreeable;  as,  in  the  "Knight's  Tale  :" — 
"But  on  of  you,  al  be  him  loth  or  Zeve." 

Whether  it  is  agreeable  to  him  or  not.  In  the  ''Mil- 
ler's Tale,"  we  have  another  meaning : — 

"  I  am  no  babble, 
Me  though  I  say  it.     I  am  not  lefe  to  gabble." 

I  do  not  like  prating,  or,  it  may  be,  I  am  not  willing 
to  prate.  In  the  "  Shipmanne's  Tale,"  we  have  yet 
another  use  of  the  word  : — 


TO  GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

*'  For  on  my  portos  here  I  make  an  oth, 
That  never  in  my  life,  for  lefe  nor  loth, 
Ne  shall  I  of  no  couseil  you  bewray." 

So  that  this  apparent  vulgarism  is  good  old  English. 
The  word  lever,  the  comparative  degree  of  leve,  or 
lefe,  as  more  agreeable,  I  have  never  heard;  nor 
lever,  for  rather ;  both  of  which  are  old  words. 

*'  It  were  me  lever  than  twenty  pound  worth  lond." 

Chaucer. 
And  in  the  sense  of  rather : — 

"As  there  is  falle  on  me  swiche  hevinesse, 
No't  I  nat  why,  that  we  were  lever  to  slepe 
Than  the  best  gallon  wine  that  is  in  Chepe." 

Manciples  Prologue. 

Let  on,  to  mention.  "He  never  let  on,^^  he  never  told 
me.  An  Icelandic  word,  laeta.  (Brockett.)  "He 
never  let  on  to  me  about  it,"  may  be  heard  not  unfre- 
quently  in  the  country. 

Lick,  to  beat.  I'll  lick  you,  and,  I'll  give  you  a  licking, 
are  common,  both  in  word  and  deed.  I  find  it  in 
Brockett  and  the  Hallamshire  Glossary.  Grose  says 
it  is  a  North  and  South  of  England  word.  Likken, 
Dutch. 

LiCKLY,  for  likely,  probable.  (Brockett. )  This  word  is 
never  pronounced  lickly,  and  we  notice  it  only  to  say 
that  it  has  two  meanings,  in  New  England.  In  the 
sense  of  good  looking,  as,  "he  is  a  likely  fellow;" 
also,  for  a  youth  who  promises  well,  and  is  intelligent; 
and  for  probable.  The  last  seems  its  only  meaning  in 
England. 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  tl 

Lift,  for  assistance.  (Brockett.)  We  say,  "give  us  a 
lift."  It  has  another  application  ;  if  one  has  an  addi- 
tion to  his  fortune,  "he's  got  a  great  lift  lately,"  may 
be  heard  as  announcing  it. 

Littlest,  for  least.  (Brockett.)  Shakspeare  makes  use 
of  it.    It  is  common  here. 

Loafer,  loafing.  This  common  expression,  so  far  as  I 
know,  is  peculiar  to  us,  and  of  late  invention,  seems  to 
come  very  directly  from  the  German.  Laufer  is 
"courir,"  to  run;  laufen  is  "coureur,"  and  one  of 
the  meanings  of  this  is  a  rambler,  a  rover.  By  a  very 
easy  transition  from  these  gentler  terms,  it  can  be  made 
to  have  a  strong  or  coarser  and  more  vulgar  applica- 
tion ;  and  loafing,  or  to  go  loafing  about,  is  to  run 
about  idling ;  and  a  loafer,  is  an  idle  vagabond. 

Loon,  for  Ibun,  loicne  ;  an  idle  vagabond,  a  worthless 
fellow,  a  rascal.  (Brockett.)  In  the  first  sense,  this 
word  may  be  heard  in  New  England;  "a  lazy  loon," 
being  no  uncommon  expression;  also,  "as  stupid  as  a 
loon."  In  neither  of  the  others  do  I  remember  it. 
Shakspeare  makes  "  Macbeth,"  in  an  agony,  cry  out — 
"  The  devil  damn  thee,  thou  cream-faced  loo?i, 
Where  gots  thou  that  goose-book?" 

Lout,  a  heavy,  idle  fellow.  (North  of  England.)  "A 
lout  of  a  fellow,"  is  not  uncommon  among  us. 

LuBBART,  an  awkward,  clownish  fellow.  (Brockett.) 
This  word  may  be  found  in  Shakspeare,  Milton,  and 
later  authors.  AYe  say  lubber,  in  the  precise  sense 
given  above.  Lowt,  which  Shakspeare  uses,  is  a  syno- 
nym, and  not  unfrequent  in  New  England. 


Y2  GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

LuMAKiN.  A  lumakin  sort  of  a  fellow,  for  an  awkward 
person,  is  used  here.  Mr.  Akerman  gives  it  as  in  use 
in  Wiltshire. 

Lump.  There  is  a  mode  of  using  this  word  in  New 
England,  or  was,  that  seems  to  be  peculiar.  ''If  you 
don't  like  it,  you  may  lump  it,"  was  a  defiance  to  a 
boy  who  had  taken  offence  at  something  said  or  done. 
Whence  comes  lump,  or  what  it  means,  I  do  not  know. 
"  To  take  in  the  gross,  without  attention  to  particu- 
lars," the  definition  in  Tod's  Johnson,  covers  it  to  a 
certain  extent.  Forby  gives  lump,  to  drub  with  vio- 
lence. The  German  lumpen,  "traiter  avec  mepris," 
which  would  give  the  meaning,  "if  you  don't  like  it, 
treat  it  with  contempt,"  is  not  far  from  the  New  Eng- 
land use  of  the  word.  Thence  it  might  be,  "if  you 
don't  like  it,  treat  it  with  contempt." 

LusTYisH,  for  rather  stout;  inclining  to  be  fat.  (Brock- 
ett.)     This  is  our  application  of  the  word. 

Lynch.  Is  a  Western  mode  of  arranging  social  griev- 
ances. 

Lynch-law.  a  summary  execution  of  the  will  of  those 
who  live  under  no  fear  of  the  restraints  of  laws  or 
civilization.  It  seems  to  be  absolutely  necessary,  as, 
without  it,  there  would  be  no  hope  of  ridding  society, 
in  new  countries,  of  those  who  are  a  nuisance.  It  is 
a  rough  expression  of  the  moral  sense,  and  frequently 
well  directed. 


GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  73 


M. 

Mad,  for  very  angry.  This  is  one  of  the  words  that 
English  travelers  laughed  at  us  for  using.  ''  Let  me 
alone,  I  am  mad  with  you;"  but  it  is  only  through 
ignorance  of  the  language  of  their  own  people.  It 
is  used  in  Essex,  and  in  Middleton's  ''Your  Eive  Gal- 
lants," one  of  the  characters  uses  it : — 

"They're  mad;  she  graced  me  with  one  private  minute 
above  their  fortunes." 

Mannersbit.  a  portion  of  a  dish  left  by  the  guests, 
that  the  host  may  not  feel  himself  reproached  for  in- 
sufficient preparation.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  Among 
the  relics  of  old  times  and  their  fashions,  this  still  ex- 
ists in  New  England ;  probably,  however,  as  a  custom 
only  among  the  very  particular,  and  the  very  precise. 
"Leave  some  for  manners,''^  was  always  enjoined  on 
us,  as  school-boys,  and  was  always  practiced  by  all,  old 
and  young.  The  last  piece  of  toast,  the  last  piece  of 
pudding,  the  last  potato,  were  untouched ;  and  so  left 
the  table,  notwithstanding  the  significant  glances  of 
the  hungry  and  half-satisfied. 

Mantel-piece,  the  chimney-piece.  (Hallamshire  Glos- 
sary.) This,  which  formerly  meant  the  whole  of  the 
work  about  a  chimney,  seldom  is  applied  to  more  than 
the  piece  of  wood  or  marble  that  crosses  its  top. 

Mare's  nest.  "He  has  found  a  mare^s  nest,  and  is 
laughing  at  the  eggs,"  said  of  one  who  laughs  without 
any  apparent  cause.  (Grose's  Classical  Dictionary.) 
7 


14  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

This  phrase,  which  is  not  uncommon  among  us,  is  not 
applied  in  the  way  which  Grose  gives  it.  We  say, 
"he  think's  tliat  he's  found  a  mare^s  nest,^^  as  a  sort 
of  sarcasm  on  one  who  thinks  that  he  has  hit  on  a 
reason  for  a  thing,  or  made  a  discovery  in  some  mat- 
ter that  was  mysterious  or  attempted  to  be  concealed, 
and  therefore  assumes  a  superior  wisdom.  In  Ker's 
"Essay  on  the  Archaiology  of  Popular  English  Er- 
rors and  Nursery  Rhymes,"  he  derives  this  saying 
from  the  Dutch,  er  mers  nest,  i.e.  their  hut  is  nested, 
or,  there  is  nothing  in  it. 

Mash,  to  smash.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  Our  employ- 
ment of  this  word  is  confined,  I  think,  to  "beating 
into  a  confused  mass,"  as  in  Tod's  Johnson ;  as  we 
would  say,  "a  dish  of  mashed  potatoes,"  or,  "his 
limb  was  mashed,^^  for  crushed.  I  understand  that  in 
the  interior  of  New  England,  maul  is  used. 

Maul,  a  wooden  hammer,  used  by  masons.  (Hallam- 
shire Glossary.)  For  this,  we  say  mallet,  but  use  it  as 
a  verb,  and  say,  "111  maul  him,"  or,  "he  was  sadly 
mauled,"  for  beat  and  beaten. 

May  be,  for  perhaps,  is  common  among  us  also. 

Maying.  We  preserve  this  custom,  one  of  great  anti- 
quity;  and  no  feeling  can  be  conceived  more  beautiful 
than  that  which  leads  to  the  fields,  to  pluck  the  early 
flowers  of  spring.  It  is  full  of  a  thankful  joyfulness, 
with  a  veneration  that  has  in  it  something  sacred. 

Meal-time.  For  whose  use  there  seems  no  other  au- 
thority than  the  Bible :  "And  Boaz  said  unto  her.  At 
meal-time  come  thou  hither,  and  eat  of  the  bread  and 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  15 

dip  thy  morsel  in  the  vinegar."  Our  Puritan  forefa- 
thers were  devout  and  earnest  readers  of  the  Scrip- 
ture, and  many  of  their  phrases  are  from  that  sacred 
source.  3Iealy -mouthed,  we  apply  to  one  who  has  a 
gentle  way  of  speaking,  as  distinguished  from  a  strong. 
It  is  used  in  England  in  a  similar  sense. 

Means,  for  property.  He  lives  on  his  means.  (Hallam- 
shire  Glossary.)     Precisely  our  application. 

Middling,  for  tolerably  well.  (Brockett.)  This  word  is 
in  use  as  far  South  as  Pennsylvania.  "How  are  your 
folks  V  ''Why,  about  middling,^''  may  be  heard  in  the 
country  every  day.  We  also  hear,  a  middling  warm 
day,  a  middling  high  piece  of  ground,  a  middling 
crop,  a  middling  good  year  for  potatoes. 

Miff,  for  offence.  (Britton.)  To  be  miffed  with  one,  is 
frequent  in  Pennsylvania.  I  never  heard  it  in  New 
England. 

Mind,  to  remember;  to  be  steady,  or  attentive.  (Brock- 
ett.) In  the  first  sense,  we  seldom  if  ever  hear  it,  ex- 
cept from  emigrants.  In  the  last,  or  something  near 
it,  it  is  common  enough;  as,  mind  what  you  are 
about;  if  you  don't  mind  your  eye,  I'll  give  you  a 
licking ;  also,  you  mind  the  children,  while  I  go,  etc. ; 
this  use  of  the  word  I  find  in  the  Hereford  Glossary. 
It  is  common  among  us. 

MiTS.  Long  gloves  without  fingers,  elsewhere  called 
mittens.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  Besides  this,  we 
mean  by  mits,  the  worsted  articles  worn  by  children  in 
winter;  they  have  no  fingers,  but  inclose  the  hand, 
and  are  considered  warmer  than  gloves.     The  long 


76  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

gloves  without  fingers  were  worn  in  New  England  by 
those  who  represented  the  past,  even  in  our  time,  and 
are  to  be  seen  daily  among  the  Quakers.  The  word 
is  from  the  French  mitaines,  and  was  first  adopted 
into  our  language  by  Chaucer  probably : — 

*'  Hei'e  is  a  mitaine  eke,  that  ye  may  sel : 
He  that  his  hand  wol  put  in  this  mitaine^ 
He  shall  haye  multiplying  of  his  gaine,"  etc. 

The  Pardonere's  Tale. 

Mobility.  Mob.  (Classical  Dictionary.)  This  may  be 
sometimes  seen  in  a  newspaper,  or  heard  in  that  sense. 
It  no  doubt  comes  from  mohilitas,  fickleness. 

Month's  mind.  We  have  heard  this  expression  from 
our  earliest  recollection,  without  any  idea  what  it 
meant.  It  now  appears  that  it  was  an  expression 
used  formerly  in  wills.  A  montlVs  mind,  or  a  yearns 
mind,  meaning  that  at  those  times,  once  a  month,  or 
once  a  year,  certain  solemnities  were  to  be  performed 
to  hold  the  deceased  in  remembrance.  Shakspeare 
has  it  in  the  "Two  Gentlemen  of  Yerona."  A  desire, 
or  an  intention,  is  our  only  application  of  it;  as,  ''I 
have  a  month''s  mind  to  do  something." 

Mortal,  mortacious,  mortally  indeed.  Grose  gives 
these  as  Kentish  words  for  very.  The  last  two  terms 
I  have  never  heard,  but  the  first  is  common  in  New 
England  in  a  sense  similar,  if  not  the  same  as  very. 
One  hears  there,  "a  moiial  sight  of  folks,"  for  a  great 
many  people ;  and,  I  think,  also,  a  ''mortal  good  doc- 
tor." Tod's  Johnson  has  another  meaning,  extreme, 
violent;  as  a  low  word,  as  "he  was  in  a  mortal  fight;" 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  11 

also,  "he  was  mortally  afearcl."  In  this  sense,  it  may 
be  heard  among  us,  with  the  authority,  however,  of 
Dryden. 

Most.  This  superlative  is,  as  Brockett  says,  common 
in  parts  of  England,  often  prefixed  to  another  superla- 
tive ;  generally,  however,  with  the  indefinite  article,  as, 
"it  is  a  most  a  beautifulest  day;"  "he  is  a  most  a 
handsomest  man." 

Much  op  a  muchness.  This  phrase,  for  there  being 
very  little  difference  or  choice  between  two  things,  is 
now  used  in  Sussex  and  Hampshire,  in  England.  We 
generally  say,  pretty  much  of  a  muchness.  It  is,  of 
course,  a  vulgar  phrase. 

Muck,  moist,  wet.  (Lincolnshire;  Grose.)  I  have 
beard,  "  I'm  all  of  a  muck  sweat,"  an  application  not 
altogether  peculiar.  Grose  says  that  much,  in  other 
parts  of  England,  means  manure  laid  to  rot,  which  is 
usually  very  moist;  whence,  wet  as  muck.  Our  use  of 
the  word  comes,  no  doubt,  from  this.  It  is  an  old 
word,  derived  from  the  Saxon,  and  has  been  employed 
by  Spenser,  Shakspeare,  and  others ;  though  we  have 
the  honor  of  its  usefulness  by  a  somewhat  novel  appli- 
cation. 

Muggy.  Muggy  weather,  is  misty,  thick,  foggy  wea- 
ther. (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  Corruptly,  perhaps, 
we  mean  by  muggy  weather,  a  close,  warm,  and  damp 
atmosphere,  such  as  spring  sometimes  produces.  Brit- 
ton  gives  it  in  this  sense. 

MuLLYGRUBS,  foF  had  temper ;  ill  humor,  an  indescriba- 
ble complaint.  (Brockett.)  The  first  is  no  uncommon 
t* 


18  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

application  of  the  word  ;  l3ut  whether  we  use  it  for  the 
"indescribable  complaint,"  it  is  impossible  to  say,  not 
knowing  what  that  may  be ;  but  there  is  a  complaint, 
known  to  every  human  being,  to  which  the  mulli- 
gruhs  is  attached,  in  this  country.  It  is  an  old  word. 
[I  should  think  muUy  was  an  Icelandic  word,  mogla, 
this  being  descriptive  in  either.  ]  Il^euellij  ^krop'^s,  q.e. 
my  evil  suffering  is  the  belly.  This,  Mr.  Ker  thinks, 
is  a  good  origin  for  mullig7'ubs ;  in  English,  a  belly- 
ache, and  some  of  its  consequences  and  accompani- 
ments. The  distressed  countenance,  to  which  the 
word  is  sometimes  applied,  goes  with  the  pain  and  in- 
convenience of  the  disease ;  so,  on  the  whole,  I  think 
we  may  consider  ourselves  indebted  to  the  Dutch  for 
mulligrubs.  Mully  may  be  derived  from  an  Icelandic 
word,  mogla,  to  murmur ;  this  being  descriptive  and 
expressive  of  an  individual  in  either  condition,  whe- 
ther that  of  mind  or  body ;  the  grubs,  I  do  not  know 
how  to  account  for.  Greep,  is  the  Dutch  for  gripe ; 
murmen,  to  murmur.  Whether  these  words,  com- 
pounded, might  not  make  it,  is  worthy  of  considera- 
tion. 

MuMMOCK. '  Though  not  common,  is  sometimes  heard. 
Skelton  has  the  substantive,  mummocks,  that  I  have 
never  heard.  Shakspeare  has  the  verb,  viummocked, 
in  the  same  sense  as  heard  here.  Forby  has  the  sub- 
stantive in  his  East  Anglia  Dialect,  and  Baker  in  the 
Northamptonshire. 

MuN,  the  mouth.  (Craven  Dialect.)  Mr.  Carr  derives 
it  from  mond,  a  Belgic  word ;    or,  mund,  Teutonic. 


GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED    AMERICANISMS  19 

Mun  is  Swedish  for  moutli.  "A  lick  in  the  muns,^^ 
was  a  school-boy  mode  of  expressing  a  blow  in  the 
face.  It  was  not  necessarily  the  mouth. 
MuNCHE,  to  chew.  (Jennings.)  The  definition  in  Tod's 
Johnson,  "to  chew  eagerly,  by  great  mouthfuls,"  and 
Shakspeare's — 

"  A  sailor's  wife  had  chestnuts  on  her  lap, 
And  mounched,  and  mounched,  and  mounched,''^ 

are  its  usual  meanings  here. 
Mush,  to  crush:  to  pound  very  small.  (Hallamshire 
Glossary.)  Mush  is  with  us  a  substantive,  the  simple 
substance  known  in  England,  Old  and  New,  as  hasty- 
pudding;  in  Scotland,  as  porridge;  and  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  farther  South,  as  mush.  Asa  verb,  I 
have  never  heard  it.  We  have  mash,  in  the  above 
sense. 

N. 

Nashun,  for  much,  or  very,  I  have  never  heard,  except 
in  "Yankee  Doodle;"  but  as  that  was  written  by  an 
Englishman,  it  is  not  orthodox.     Akerman  has  it. 

Near,  for  niggardly,  stingy.  This  may  be  sometimes 
heard  here,  though  not  as  often  as  in  England.  It  is 
a  North  of  England  expression. 

Nation,  an  abbreviation  of  damnation ;  a  vulgar  term 
used  in  Kent,  Sussex,  and  the  adjacent  counties,  for 
very.  (Grose's  Classical  Dictionary,  also  the  North 
and  West  of  England.)  One  may  hear,  as  a  kind  of 
burlesque  oath,  in  New  England,  tarnation,  for  dam- 
nation.   Nation,  for  damnation,  or  for  the  more  modest 


80  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

expletive,  very,  we  have  never  heard,  except  in  the 
"Yankee  Doodle"  anthem  : — 

"It  held  a  pound  of  powder, 
And  made  a  noise  like  fayther's  gun, 
Only  a  nation  louder." 

Nice.  This  word,  that  means,  in  England,  clever, 
agreeable;  as,  "I  like  him,  he  is  such  a  nice  person," 
has  lost  that  signification  here.  We  use  it  in  the 
sense  of  clean,  or  neat;  as,  "how  nice  you  look!" 
These  are,  of  course,  colloquial  expressions.  As  the 
exact  opposite  of  nice,  we  have  nasty.  Ill-natured, 
impatient,  saucy,  Brockett  gives  as  the  North  of  Eng- 
land application.  In  the  first  and  last  sense  it  is  quite 
common  ;  "  get  away,  you  nasty  fellow  !"  may  be  heard 
from  one  of  the  female  sex,  who  finds  one  of  the  male 
sex  somewhat  too  importunate  or  familiar,  though 
not  always  urged  with  a  very  strenuous  resolution. 
"He's  a  77as^y-tempered  fellow,"  is  also  common;  but 
for  dirty,  filthy,  its  proper  meaning,  it  is  seldom 
used. 

Nine-holes.  Nares  speaks  of  this  as  a  rural  game, 
played  by  making  nine  holes  in  the  ground,  in  the 
angles  and  sides  of  a  square,  and  placing  stones  and 
other  things  upon  them,  according  to  certain  rules. 
A  game  called  nine-holes,  was  common  at  the  school, 
in  New  England,  where  I  was  educated ;  it  was  played 
with  ball,  and  does  not  appear  precisely  the  same  with 
that  given  by  Nares. 

Ninny-hammer,  a  foolish,  stupid  person.  (Brockett.) 
Also,  Shakspeare's  word,  ninny,  are  both  common 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  81 

here  in  the  above  sense.  It  has  become,  however,  a  term 
of  good  humor,  not  of  offence.  In  the  dialogue  be- 
tween Stephano,  Trinculo,  and  Caliban,  in  which  the 
invisible  Ariel  takes  a  part,  Caliban  exclaims — 

"  What  a  pied  ninny  this,  thou  scurvy  hatch !" 

"I  say  you  are  a  ninny-hammer,  and  beware  the  cuckoo." 
Middleton's  Family  of  Love. 

JN'oR,  for  than.  "Better  nor  a  thousand  on  'em  were 
killed;"  "better  nor  fifty  bushels  of  them  potatoes 
was  spoilt  by  the  rain."  It  is  frequent  in  New  Eng- 
land.    I  find  it  in  the  Hereford  Glossary. 

'^ov^Y,,iov  judgment,  sense.  (Brockett.)  Among  better 
educated  persons,  this  word  is  sometimes  heard ;  sel- 
dom with  any  one  else.  The  above  author  derives  it 
from  the  Latin  noscere;  why  not  from  the  Greek 
noos  nous  ? 

NoRRA  ONE,  for  never  a  one.  (Britton.)  A  Yankee 
would  say,  nary  one,  which  is  universally  so  pro- 
nounced among  the  badly  educated.  In  "  Tom 
Jones,"  the  landlady  of  the  inn  where  he  meets  with 
the  first  adventure,  after  leaving  Mr.  Alworthy's,  in  a 
part  of  a  speech  at  Jones,  says :  "And  yet  I  warrants 
me  there  is  narrow  a  one  of  all  those  officer-fellows 
but  looks  upon  himself  to  be  as  good  as  arrow  a 
squire  of  £500  a  year."  They  also  have,  in  England, 
in  Somersetshire,  orra  one;  we  say,  ary  one.  Take 
ary  one  on  'em  you  like  best,  meaning  any  one. 

NuTHER,  for  neither.  (Jennings.)  Not  an  uncommon 
New  England  pronunciation,  though  more  frequently 


82  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

nytlier.     Notlier  is  the  old  way  of  spelling  the  word, 
as  in  Chaucer's  "Gierke's  Tale:" — 

"  That  notlier  by  heir  words,  ne  heir  face 
Before  the  folk,  we  eke  in  heir  absence." 

Also,  in  the  "Merchant's  Tale  :" — 

*'  For  nother  after  his  death,"  etc. 
Nuts.  The  common  phrase,  "it  is  nuts  to  him,"  I  do 
not  find  in  any  of  the  glossaries ;  it  is  an  old  mode  of 
speaking.  In  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "  Mad  Lover," 
"But  they  are  needful  mischiefs,  and  such  as  are  nuts 
to  me,  and  I  must  do  'em."  It  is  common  here  among 
all  classes. 

o. 

Old  Nick.  Brockett  says  that  this  word,  with  Old 
Harry  and  Old  Scratch,  mean  the  devil,  among  the 
vulgar  in  the  North  of  England.  Nick  he  derives  from 
Nicken,  or  Nicka,  an  evil  spirit  of  the  waters  among 
the  Danes  and  Germans.  They  are  all  three  employed 
here  as  ajQfectionate  terras  for  his  satanic  majesty. 

On,  for  concerning.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  To  tell 
on  me ;  I  didn't  hear  him  tell  on  it,  are  common  in 
New  England. 

OuRN,  for  ours.  (Jennings.)  Very  common  in  New 
England. 

Outside.  This  word  is  frequently  used  by  writers  in 
newspapers  in  a  sense  not  known  to  the  language. 
In  a  Ledger  of  a  late  date,  there  is  a  phrase  alluding  to 
the  sale  of  Fort  Snelling,  ''outside  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,"  for  "no  one  but  that  official." 


GLOSSARY  OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  83 


Pair  of  stairs,  for  flight  of  stairs.  (Hallamsliire 
Glossary.)  This  expression,  so  frequent  here,  seems 
peculiar  to  Yorkshire,  or  rather  the  Hallamshire  dis- 
trict, as  I  find  it  nowhere  else.  Its  source  is  not 
mentioned. 

Palaver,  to  use  unnecessary  words.  (Brockett.) 
''Don't  stand  palavering, ^^  is  common.  It  is  derived 
from  imlahra,  the  Spanish  for  word,  in  the  opinion  of 
some  etymologists;  though,  as  it  is  and  always  has 
been  a  vulgar  word,  if  really  from  the  Spanish,  it  has 
insinuated  itself  into  general  use  through  the  drama. 

Pan,  to  watch,  to  agree,  to  assimilate.  (Brockett.)  We 
insert  this  word  for  the  purpose  of  asking  a  question ; 
we  have  never  heard  it,  but  every  one  knows  the  com- 
mon word,  span,  in  New  England,  used  for  a  pair ;  as, 
"  a  span  of  horses;"  may  it  not  be  derived  hom  pan,  or 
else  used  corruptly  for  pan  ? 

Patch.  The  substantive  appears  to  puzzle  etymolo- 
gists. "Out,  scurvy  pa/c/i.^"  says  Caliban.  Why  does 
it  not  come  from  the  condition  of  one  who  wears 
patched  clothes,  implying  poverty,  filth,  and  rags? 
Gross-jyatch,  a  word  used  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk, 
East  Suffolk,  England,  and  often  here,  among  children, 
for  an  ill-tempered  person,  appears  to  convey  con- 
tempt. 

Patching,  for  mending  clothes.  (Grose.)  A  coat 
patched,  is  not  as  we  use  the  word,  a  coat  mended, 
but  a  coat  with  new  pieces  set  in.     Coats  and  trowsers 


84  GLOSSARY  OP   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

with  these  new  insertions  may  be  seen  every  day,  giv- 
ing a  harlequin  character  to  one's  habiliments. 
Pay,  to  heat.   (Brockett.)  We  hear,  ''1  j^aid  him  well," 
for  the  operation  of  a  beating ;  and  most  persons,  no 
doubt,  like  ourselves,  took  it  to  be  a  debt  discharged. 
"  I  have  jjcppered  two  of  them ;  two  I  am  sure 
I  have /?«/(/;  two  rogues  in  buckram," 

says  Sir  John  Falstafif.  Peppered,  is  also  still  in 
use  here  ;  and  another  word,  ^^e^/,  to  beat  with  sharp 
knuckles.  (Brockett.)  "I  gave  him  such  a  pe^^mg'," 
was  once  to  be  heard,  though  not  very  common,  among 
boys. 

pEAKisn,  for  looking  in  ill  health,  is  known  here. 
Shakspeare  uses  the  verb  peak,  in  that  sense.  It 
probably  comes  from  the  growing  thin,  or  to  a  peak. 
Skelton  has  pekish,  but  as  foolish. 

Pelt,  a  blow.  (Grose.)  "I  hit  him  such  a  pelt,''^  was 
common  among  boys,  in  New  England. 

Percy  and,  the  sign,  etc.  (Brockett.)  This  is  the  same 
as  that  which  children  call  and  pussy  and,  probably. 
Forby  gives  this  word  as  ampers  and,  deriving  it 
from  and  perse  and;  the  character,  etc.,  he  says,  is  a 
combination  of  e  and  t,  which  form  the  Latin  conjunc- 
tion et,  and  &  was  introduced  formerly  into  Latin 
words.  Posset  and  sciretis,  he  found  in  some  Latin 
MSS.  spelt  poss  d,  and  scir  &  is.  He  has  also  am- 
pasty,  as  another  name  for  ampers  and,  meaning  and 
pasty. 

Pert,  or  piert,  for  brisk;  in  good  health.  (Hereford 
Glossary.)     I  have  heard  this  word  so  applied  in  this 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  85 

State :  "  Why,  you  look  quite  peert  this  morning ; "  but 
never,  that  I  remember,  in  New  England.  It  is  ap- 
plied, in  Yirginia,  to  the  wind :  "  It  blows  quite 
peert.''^ 

Petted,  for  favored,  indulged.  (Grose.)  Though  in 
common  use  here,  this  seems  peculiar  to  the  North  of 
England. 

Phippunny,  for  fivepenny.  I  take  this  from  a  vocabu- 
lary of  Lancashire  words,  in  the  Gentleman's  Ma- 
gazine for  1T46.  Whether  used  in  England  now,  I 
do  not  know,  though,  in  "Jack  Hinton,  or  Our  Mess," 
a  tale  by  the  author  of  "  Charles  O'Malley,"  it  ap- 
pears as  a  part  of  the  vulgar  tongue  in  Ireland.  A 
phippunny,  ov  fippenny,  was  universal  here  for  a  five- 
cent  piece,  or  a  piece  of  six  and  a  quarter  cents, 
until  the  late  abolition  of  this  coin  from  our  currency. 

FiECE,  fov  a  little  while.  (Brockett.)  To  sioip  a  piece  ; 
or,  won't  you  stay  apiece  f  Also,  for  distance :  he  went 
along  a  piece  farther.  All  are  common  among  the 
yeomanry  of  our  country. 

Pick  at.  To  pick  at;  as,  "Bill  Jones  kept  picking  at 
me,  so  I  struck  him,"  was  a  common  phrase,  among 
school-boys. 

PissABED.  This  plant,  so  common  in  the  fields  of  negli- 
gent farmers,  and  known  to  delicate  ears  as  the  daisy, 
still  bears  the  somewhat  unpleasant  name  that  we  have 
given.  Both  Johnson  and  Webster  speak  of  it  as  a 
vulgar  term.  Perhaps  neither  of  them  knew  that  it 
is  used  by  one  of  the  best  of  English  dramatic  poets, 
Heywood,  in  one  of  his  most  poetical  plays,  "  Love's 
8 


86  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Mistress;"  and  uses  it  in  such  a  way,  and  among  such 
a  class  of  sentiments,  as  to  prove  that  in  his  time  it 
was  not  vulgar,  nor  conveyed  a  coarse  and  vulgar 
meaning. 
"Ceres  was  binding  garlands  for  god  Pan, 
Of  bluebottles  and  y e\lo^y  pissabeda, 
That  grew  amongst  the  wheat,  with  which  she  crowned 
His  forked  brows,  and  wooed  him  with  his  horn. 
To  rouse  the  skipping  Satyrs  to  go  hunt 
A  herd  of  swine,  that  rooted  up  her  corn." 

Plaguy.  This  word,  that  came  from  the  disgusting 
appearance  of  people  with  the  plague,  has  made 
several  ascents  and  descents  into  different  meanings. 
They  may  be  found  in  Tod's  Johnson.  None  of 
them  are  the  New  England  use  of  it.  Shakspeare, 
who  seems  the  normal  type  of  everything,  has  it  in 
the  exact  Yankee  usage. 

Pluck  a  rose.  This  expression  I  have  never  heard  but 
once.     It  is  in  Middleton's  Changeling  : — 

What  hour  is't,  Lollio? 

Lol. — Towards  belly  hour. 

Alib. — Dinner  time  ? 

Lol. — Yes,  sir;  for  every  part  has  his  hour:  we  wake  at 
six  and  look  about  us — that's  eye  hour ;  at  seven,  we  sliould 
pray — that's  knee  hour ;  at  eight,  walk — that's  leg  hour ;  at 
nine,  gather  flowers  and  pluck  a  rose — that's  nose  hour;  at 
ten,  we  drink— that's  mouth  hour;  at  eleven,  lay  about  us 
for  victuals — that's  hand  hour ;  at  twelve,  go  to  dinner — 
that's  belly  hour. 

The  meaning  of  the  phrase  is  clear. 
Plunder.     This  word  is  said  to  be  used  in  some  parts 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  8t 

of  this  country  in  the  sense  of  baggage;  or,  in  a  more 
extended  sense,  as  Ms  furniture;  always  property 
of  some  sort.     I  have  heard  it  employed  seriously. 

PoMPKiN.  A  man  or  woman  of  Boston,  in  America ; 
from  the  number  of  pompkins  raised  and  eaten  by  the 
people  of  that  country.  Pompkinshire,  for  Boston 
and  its  dependencies.  (Classical  Dictionary.)  This  is 
entirely  new  to  us,  and  is  probably  obsolete.  It  will 
surprise  a  Bostonian  of  the  present  day  to  be  told 
that  his  ancestors  were  spoken  of  so  contemptuously. 

Poorly,  for  indifferent  in  health.  (Brockett.)  "How 
do  you  feel  to-day  ?"  Poorly,  will  be  a  frequent  an- 
swer to  the  above  question. 

Power,  for  a  multitude.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  In 
the  country  we  hear  this  :  "a  power  of  folks,"  or,  "a 
power  of  cattle,"  are  both  common. 

Proper.  "He's  a, proper  handsome  man,"  "that's  p)^o- 
per  nice,"  were  common  phrases  in  New  England. 
It  is  only  a  tautological  vulgarity ;  projjer  was  once 
used  for  handsome. 

Pucker.  To  be  in  a  pucker,  is  a  vulgarism  brought 
here  from  Hampshire  or  Sussex,  It  seems  to  come 
very  directly  from  pocca,  a  bag  or  sack ;  and  alludes 
to  the  being  drawn  into  wrinkles  like  a  bag,  and  ex- 
presses contempt. 

PwiNT,  for  point.    (Jennings.)    This  is  very  near  the 

New  England  pint.     The  pint  of  a  pin ;  also,  disap- 

pinted,'^  are  universal  among  the  old-fashioned,  and 

where  change  has  not  unseated  old  customs  and  old 

.  ideas. 


88  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Q. 

Quandary.  This  common  word  is  derived,  by  some  ety- 
mologists, from  the  French  qu^en  dirai.  It  may  be 
heard  every  day,  from  all  kinds  of  people. 

QuARE,  for  queer,  odd.  (Jennings.)  This  way  of  pro- 
nouncing the  word  is  common  iu  New  England,  though 
they  reverse  it  in  chair,  which  is  called  cheer:  "Take 
a  cheer." 

Queer.  The  origin  of  this  word  is  not  determined. 
The  German,  quer,  an  adverb,  means  "de  travers, 
d'avoir  I'esprit  de  travers,"  is,  "to  be  wrong-headed  ;" 
which  is  what  it  means  when  we  say,  "he  is  a  queer 
fellow,"  that  there  is  something  wrong  or  odd  about 
him.  Quer  seems,  therefore,  a  very  proper  origin, 
and  very  satisfactory. 

Quilting.  A  quiUing-froWG,  is  one  of  Xew  England's 
rural  amusements,  but  confined  to  the  women. 

Quite,  is  also  corruptly  and  absurdly  employed;  as, 
quite  a  number.  The  word  conveys  the  idea  of  com- 
pleteness, as,  quite  ruined,  quite  miserable ;  but  in  the 
other  way,  means  nothing.  Quite  a  considerable  num- 
ber, as  we  hear  often,  in  English  means  nothing. 
Words  in  this  way,  from  ignorance,  become  fastened 
to  a  language. 

E. 

Kake  up,  to  cover,  to  bury.  (Jennings.)  We  have 
added  a  meaning  lo  this  word,  and  not  only  use  it  for  to 
cover,  but,  to  open  and  expose.     To  rake  up,  is  used 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  89 

in  no  other  way  in  England  than  in  the  sense  of  to 
cover.  To  rake  up  a  fire,  is  there  to  throw  ashes 
over  live  coals,  or  to  stir  them  in  the  grate ;  we  also 
say,  rake  open  the  fire.  The  first  is  derived  from  the 
Saxon,  the  last  we  have  invented  from  the  use  of  the 
rake.  "To  rake  up  old  stories  against  one,"  is  an- 
other form  of  applying  it  here. 

Rear.  Among  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  this 
country  south  of  Philadelphia,  this  word  has  given  way 
to  raise.  One  seldom  hears,  "I  shall  have  difficulty  in 
rearing  that  child,"  but  almost  always  raising ;  and, 
"where  were  you  raised,''''  instead  of  brought  up. 
The  Hallamshire  Glossary  mentions  a  rearing  sup- 
per, as  an  entertainment  given  when  the  wood-work 
of  a  roof  is  put  on.  To  go  to  a  raising,  is  one  of  the 
most  frequent  and  most  social  of  our  rural  amuse- 
ments. People  come  from  all  quarters  to  assist  in 
the  operation,  which  generally  ends  in  a  frolic,  and 
sometimes  becomes  an  occasion  of  intemperance  and 
the  disgusting  scenes  that  go  with  it.  The  reason  of 
this  universal  substitution  of  raise,  for  rear,  must  be 
determined  by  some  one  else. 

In  Kent,  rear  has  the  meaning  of  early  ;  whence  Pegge 
derives  the  expression,  imi^e  meats,  or,  as  he  thinks  it 
should  be  pronounced,  rear.  It  may  sometimes  be 
heard,  pronounced  in  this  way,  in  New  England,  and 
was  once  so  pronounced  in  England;    and   may  be 

found  in  Middleton. 

"And  thy  recti-  flesh 
Tost  all  into  poached  eggs." 

The  World  Tost  at  Tennis. 
8* 


90  GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Rare  seems  to  come  directly  from  rarus,  and  would  be 
pronounced  with  more  propriety  with  the  a  long,  than 
as  if  it  were  spelt  rear;  though  rare  may  come  from 
the  Swedish  ra,  or  Danish  raa,  which  are  the  archaics 
of  raw. 

Reckon,  to  sujjpose ;  to  conjecture,  to  conclude.  (Brock- 
ett.)  To  rec^o??,  belongs  more  to  the  South;  as,  a 
Yirgiuian,  asked  if  he  purposed  leaving  town  to-mor- 
row, would  reply,  "I  reckon  so."  In  Xew  England, 
it  would  mean  one  who  was  quick  at  figures :  he  reck- 
ons well ;  he  is  a  good  reckoner.  I  calculate,  and 
I  guess,  belong  to  New  England.  I  remember  once, 
at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  saying  to  a  farmer  that  I 
liked  the  people  of  this  town,  they  were  so  civil. 
His  reply  was  :  "We  always  calculate  to  be,  to  them 
that  are  civil  to  us."  This  way  of  using  calculate 
would  puzzle  an  Englishman.  It  comes  with  the 
Yankees  as  a  kind  of  second  nature,  everything  there 
being  a  matter  of  calculation ;  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  he  expressed  the  sense  of  his  neighborhood  in 
the  matter  of  civility;  who,  after  due  consideration, 
had  calculated  that,  as  a  system  of  conduct,  civility 
was  the  best  they  could  think  of. 

Reckning.  The  score  at  public  houses.  (Brockett.)  A 
Yankee  will  say  to  his  landlord,  "  I'll  settle  the  reck- 
ning,''^ just  as  he  is  going  away.  It  is  also  used  as 
expressing  anger  toward  some  one,  and  conveying  a 
menace,  as,  "I'll  settle  the  reckning  with  him." 

Rench,  to  rinse.  (Brockett.)  The  New  England  pro- 
nunciation is  hardly  so  strong,  but  is  rens:  "Sam, 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED    AMERICANISMS.  91 

rens  that  tumbler;"  this  may  be  rench,  somewhat 
softened.  Brockett  gives  an  Icelandic  word  for  its 
origin;  Holloway,  a  Danish  word,  i^enser. 

Rig,  to  dress.  (Jennings.)  Is  not  in  general  use  with 
any  class,  bat  as  a  colloquial  vulgarism,  may  be  heard 
sometimes,  though  only  in  fun. 

KiGHT.  The  using  this  word  as  an  adjunct  to  adjec- 
tives, to  give  them  force  and  expression,  so  common 
among  the  earliest  English  writers,  is  confined,  in  this 
country,  to  the  South.  "I  know  him  right  well;" 
he  is  a  right  honest  fellow,  or  a  right  good  fellow,  are 
heard  there,  but  not  at  the  North  at  all.  Bight  down 
is  employed  in  a  similar  way  to  right,  as,  "he's  a  right 
down  good-for-nothing  chap;"  also,  right  on,  to  ex- 
press resolution,  and  as  a  direction  :  "keep  right  on.''^ 
Milton  has  right  onivards,  right  up;  "get  right  up,'''' 
we  use.     Forby  gives  each  of  them. 

Rile,  to  render  turbid  ;  to  vex,  to  disturb.  (Brockett. ) 
In  each  of  these  senses  it  is  in  common  use  in  New 
England,  though  more  frequently  heard  with  the  first 
meaning.  A  Yankee  once  said  to  me,  speaking  of 
the  troubles  in  Canada,  "the  people  there  seemed 
a  good  deal  riled  up.''^  He  got  his  temper  riled,  for 
one  offended  and  indignant,  is  not  unfrequent.  It  is 
not  in  Tod's  Johnson,  but  is  in  that  fine  production, 
"John  Noakes  and  Mary  Styles:" — 

".John  was  a-dry  an'  soon  cried  out, 
*Gom  git  some  beer,  we  'ooll' 
He'd  so  to  wait,  it  mad  him  riled, 
'Ihe  booths  were  all  chuck  lull." 


92  GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Mr.  Forby,  in  his  notice  of  this  word,  and  alluding  to 
its  being  in  use  in  this  country,  says :  "  It  may  have  been 
transported  to  the  Western  World  many  years  ago,  with 
some  East  Anglian  thief!"  Alas,  "  invidia  glorise  comes 
est!"  as  we  grow  in  strength,  we  shall  be  doubly  the 
offspring  of  scoundrels.  Though  these  expressions 
of  contempt  are  not  new;  but  however  bad  the  early 
colonists  or  criminals  might  have  been,  it  was  thought 
a  region  of  more  morality  than  the  Court  of  England, 
at  that  time.  In  one  of  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's 
plays,  we  have  this  very  bluntly  and  sturdily  expressed 
by  a  character  who  was  urged  to  bring  his  wife  to 
court : — 

Oil,  dear  cousin, 
You  have  a  wife,  and  fair;  bring  her  hither ; 
Let  her  not  live  to  be  the  mistress  of 
A  farmer's  heir,  and  be  confined  ever 
To  a  serge  far  coarser  than  my  house-cloth! 
Let  her  have  velvets,  tiifanies,  jewels,  pearls, 
A  coach,  an  usher,  and  her  two  lacquies; 
And  I  will  send  my  wife  to  give  her  rules, 
And  read  the  rudiments  of  a  court  to  her. 
Cler.   Sir,  I  had  rather  send  her  to  Virginia, 
To  help  propagate  the  English  nation. 

Room,  for  place;  in  the  place  of.  This  is  pure  old  Eng- 
lish, (Hallamshire  Glossary,)  and  universally  so  em- 
ployed in  New  England. 

KouGH.  To  roughen  the  shoes  of  horses  in  frosty  wea- 
ther. (Britton.)  To  have  one's  horses  caiol-ed,  is  the 
common  expression  in  New  England.  In  Philadelphia, 
rough  is  more  common. 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  93 

Rugged.     This  is  used  in  a  peculiar  manner  in  New 
England,  in  the  sense  of  hardj.     Among  the  several 
meanings   in  Tod's  Johnson,  none  come  near  this. 
The  word  was  formerly  ruggy,  as  in  Chaucer : — 
"With  flotery  berd,  and  ruggy  ashy  heres." 

KuMPLE.  A  large  debt,  contracted  by  little  and  little. 
(Grose  gives  it  as  a  Somersetshire  word ;  but  Jen- 
nings, whose  work  is  devoted  to  that  part  of  England, 
does  not  mention  it.)  In  the  sense  of  to  press,  to  ruf- 
fle, as  in  Britton,  it  is  common  here.  A  rumpled 
shirt ;  anything  rumpled,  means  pressed  into  wrinkles. 
Its  Saxon  origin  means  wrinkles.  The  Latin  word, 
rumpo,  might  also  be  taken  as  its  origin,  it  meaning 
a  broken  or  interrupted  surface;  and  the  phrase  in 
Somersetshire,  "it  will  come  to  a  rumple  at  last," 
meaning  to  a  failure  or  bankruptcy,  or  that  a  person 
will  break,  agrees  rather  with  the  Latin  origin  than 
with  the  Saxon  or  Belgic. 

KuMPUS,  a  great  noise.  (Jennings.)  Yery  common 
among  us.  Rumplen,  in  German,  is  "faire  du  bruit, 
du  fracas;"  it  is  also  a  substantive.  Ker  derives  it 
from  a  Dutch  word,  erompas,  an  unseasonable  inter- 
ruption, something  that  breaks  up  a  state  of  quiet.  I 
can  find  no  such  word  in  the  only  Dutch  dictionary  to 
which  I  have  access.  There  is  a  quizzing  air  about 
this  author  that  leads  one  to  doubt  his  etymological 
correctness,  and  whether  he  is  in  earnest  at  all. 

Runt,  a  Scotch  ox;  also  for  a  person  of  strong  but  low 
stature.  (Brockett.)  We  use  this  word  in  neither  of 
the  above  senses.     A  runt  of  a  fellow,  meaning  some 


94  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

one  inferior  in  size,  without  regard  to  strength ;  gene- 
rally, however,  implying  inferiority  in  this  particular 
too.  ''Every  family  has  its  runt,''^  taking  this  com- 
plimentary application  from  a  litter  of  pigs,  in  which 
there  is  almost  invariably  one  very  diminutive  in  com- 
parison with  the  rest.  But  we  believe  it  is  meant  to 
apply  only  to  unusually  large  families. 

s. 

Safe,  for  sure,  certain.  He's  safe  to  be  hung.  (Brock- 
ets)  I  have  heard  this  word  used  in  this  way,  though 
it  is  not  common.  Safe,  for  a  place  of  security,  as 
an  \von-safe,  is  universal ;  and  we  also  apply  it  to  the 
box  in  which  family  provisions  are  kept.  This  is 
generally  suspended  from  the  ceiling  of  the  cellar, 
and  is  a  kind  of  larder  on  a  small  scale.  It  is  applied 
in  the  same  way  in  Suffolk. 

Sapscull,  a  foolish  felloio;  a  blockhead.  (Brockett.) 
Not  uncommon  in  this  sense  here. 

Sappy,  for /ooZzs/i.  (Wilbraham.)  He's  such  a  sap,  he's 
a  sappy  fellow,  are  common  here. 

Sartin,  and  sartinly,  for  sure,  positive.  (Brockett.) 
"You  are  not  so  sartin  of  that."  "Yes  I  be;  there 
aint  the  least  onsartinty  about  it."  "I'm  sartin  sure 
on  it."  "Are  you  going  to  sue  the  deacon  ?"  ''Sar- 
tinly I  be;  as  sartin  as  he's  alive,  I'll  have  the  law  on 
him,"  are  common  phrases  in  New  England. 

Sattle,  for  settle.  This  vulgar  pronunciation  is  con- 
formable to  the  Saxon  origin  of  the  word.   (Brockett.) 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  95 

He's  gone  out  West,  to  sattle.  It  is  almost  universally 
pronounced  in  this  way  among  farmers. 

Sauce,  insolence  of  speech;  impertinence.  (Brockett.) 
Britton  brings  it  nearer  to  the  Yankee  pronunciation, 
in  saace,  the  way  it  is  spelt  by  him ;  sarse  would  be 
still  nearer,  as,  "don't  give  me  none  of  your  sarse;^^ 
"he's  the  sai^siest  chap  ever  I  knowed;"  and  saucer 
is  sarser.  But  the  Yankees  apply  sauce  in  a  way  I 
had  supposed  peculiar.  But  this  hunt  of  mine  has, 
however,  added  another  testimony  to  the  truth  of 
"that  there's  nothing  new  under  the  sun."  Long 
sarse,  and  short  sarse,  and  round  sarse,  are  not  un- 
frequently  applied  to  different  vegetables :  carrots, 
beets,  and  potatoes  are  so  called,  according  to  their 
respective  dimensions.  The  Hallamshire  Glossary 
defines  sauce,  as  the  vegetables  on  table ;  whence,  I 
presume,  comes  the  New  England  application;  and 
Forby,  as  any  sort  of  vegetables  eaten  with  fresh  meat. 
Saucy  is  an  Essex  word ;  it  is  also  a  Suffolk  word,  in 
both  our  senses — the  vegetable  and  the  impudent. 

Say,  for  authority ;  influence,  sway.  (Brockett.)  "I've 
no  say  in  that  business,"  is  a  common  expression. 

Scaly,  for  a  shabby,  mean  person,  is  our  New  England 
word.  Set  up,  for  begun;  as,  he's  just  set  up  a  gro- 
cery store.  Shay,  for  chaise.  Smart  as  a  carrot, 
for  great  nicety  of  appearance ;  as,  "you  look  as  smart 
as  a  carrot;''"'  a  synonym  of  "you  look  as  fine  as  a  fiddle. " 
Smash,  for  all  to  pieces.  He's  gone  all  to  smash. 
Sheu,  for  showed,  a  very  common  New  England  vul- 
garism.   Smack;  "he  came  right  smack  against  me," 


96  GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

expressing  violence ;  are  all  from  Essex.  And  to- 
RiGiiTS,  fov  in  order;  "come,  put  things  to-rigbts;" 
and  TARNATION,  heard  jocularly  in  New  England,  are 
from  the  same  county.  The  last  word  is  in  a  poem 
added  to  the  literature  of  England,  entitled  "John 
Noakes  and  Mary  Styles,  or  an  Essex  Calf's  Visit  to 
Tiptree  Races;"  the  verse  runs  thus: — 

"Poor  houest  John,  'tis  plain  lie  knowed 
But  liddle  ov  life's  range, 
Or  he'd  a  knowed,  gals  oft  at  first 
Have  ways  tarnation  sti^ange." 

The  whole  is  as  brilliant  as  this. 

Scamp,  a  mean  rascal;  a  fellow  devoid  of  honor  or 
principles.  (Brockett.)  Xo  uncommon  character  in 
this  country,  any  more  than  in  that  of  our  ancestors. 
Also  scampered,  to  run  away,  which  Brockett  derives 
from  French,  Italian,  and  Teutonic,  is  in  common  use 
here. 

ScANTiSH,  for  scarce.  (Brockett.)  This  represents  a  me- 
dium between  scant  and  very  scant;  a  scantish  cro^  of 
corn,  would  be  not  very  bad  nor  very  good.  Mr.  Hod- 
son,  in  his  travels  through  this  country,  gives  a  word 
that  we  have  never  heard.  While  gazing  with  admira- 
tion at  the  scene  near  Harper's  Ferry,  a  man  awoke 
him  from  his  rapture  by  a  slap  on  the  back,  at  the  same 
time  saying,  "a  tightish  crop,  aint  it  ?"  presuming  that 
he  was  admiring  the  prospect  of  a  fine  harvest;  he,  of 
course,  meaning  the  opposite  of  scantish.  The  pro- 
cess by  which  he  brought  tightish  to  such  a  significa- 
tion was  not  probably  known  to  himself,  and  there- 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  9T 

fore  we  offer  no  explanation.  They  have  lightish  in 
Sussex,  England,  for  well,  in  good  health. 

Scape-grace,  a  graceless  fellow.  (Brockett.)  Kot 
unfrequent  here. 

Scatter-brained,  lightheaded.  (Brockett.)  A  scatter- 
brained sort  of  a  fellow,  is  no  uncommon  member  of 
the  human  family,  even  in  our  sedate  land. 

ScRANCH.  To  grind  any  hard  or  crackling  substance 
between  the  teeth.  (Brockett.)  The  Scotch  use  this, 
as  well  as  the  North  of  England ;  and  I  have  heard  it, 
though  not  often,  in  this  country. 

Scrawny.  Whence  this  word  comes,  I  have  no  idea. 
It  is  heard,  in  this  country,  in  two  senses;  a  very  thin 
person  is  called  scrawny  ;  and  a  man  at  Brandy  wine 
Springs,  Delaware,  once  told  me  that  he  liked  the 
water,  a  mild  chalybeate,  expressing  his  liking  in  this 
language  :  "  I  always  drink  this  water  of  a  morning, 
when  I  come  along,  and  feel  a  kind  o'  scrawny  like," 
evidently  meaning  that  it  refreshed  him ;  feeling  as  one 
very  naturally  does  in  a  hot  summer's  morning,  lan- 
guid and  debilitated.  They  have  a  word  in  England, 
scraggy,  meaning  lean  ;  it  also  has  another  meaning, 
full  of  protuberances :  this  would  apply  very  well  to  a 
thin  person.  Scrawny  may  be  a  corruption  of  this, 
and  both  may  come  from  the  Dutch  schraal,  lean, 
slender.     The  Craven  Dialect  has  scranny,  our  word. 

ScRANNY,  for  thin,  meagre.  (Wilbraham.)  For  some 
reason  this  is  only  appropriated  to  women  here ;  a 
thin,  scranny  woman,  is  frequent.  Tod's  Johnson 
9 


98  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

lias  only  scrannel.     We  wish  there  was  less  occasion 
for  the  word. 

Seed,  for  saw.  Universal  among  the  vulgar.  (Brock- 
ett.)  "  I  never  seed  anything  like  that  'ere,"  is  a  fre- 
quent phrase. 

Set,  to  propose;  to  push  forward.  (Brockett.)  Set  it 
forward  a  little,  is  a  common  expression;  also,  to 
esteem,  to  regard ;  I  set  a  great  deal  by  him  ;  I  set  no 
store  by  him.     Forby  has  them. 

Shakes.  We  make  use  of  this  word  in  a  masculine, 
feminine,  or  neuter  gender.  He,  she,  or  it,  is  no 
great  shakes.  Forby  attempts  a  derivation  from  the 
Anglo-Saxon  saca,  sausa,  lis,  or  as  a  thing  not  worth 
making  a  great  stir  about,  from  scacan,  quatere. 

Shay,  a  post-chaise.  (Brockett.)  A  post-chaise  is  an 
unknown  vehicle  in  this  country.  Our  chaise,  or  shay, 
as  it  is  generally  called  in  New  England,  has  but  two- 
wheels,  and  is  meant  for  only  one  horse ;  the  English 
post-chaise,  for  two  or  more,  and  has  four  wheels. 

Shift.  To  shift  himself,  is  to  change  his  dress  ;  to 
shift  for  himself,  is  to  provide  for  himself.  (Hallam- 
shire  Glossary.)  Made  use  of  in  both  these  senses  in 
this  country. 

Shilly-shally,  for  hesitating,  irresolute.  (Brockett.) 
In  Tod's  Johnson,  this  is  spelt  shill  I  shall  I,  and 
considered  a  corrupt  reduplication  of  shall  I.  "Don't 
stand  there  shilly-shally,^''  applied  to  one  who  does 
not  seem  to  know  what  to  do  with  himself,  is  a  fre- 
quent phrase  here.  Ker  thinks  Johnson's  derivation 
a  mere  whim.     He  brings  it  from  the  Dutch,  schill-je 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  99 

schael-je ;  je  means  ever,  always ;  schill,  difference, 
distinction ;  schael,  the  vessel  of  a  pair  of  scales :  it 
would  then  mean,  always  uncertain,  never  the  same. 

Shine,  a  row;  disturbance,  mischief  (Brockett.)  To 
kick  up  a  shine;  we  also  kick  up  shines. 

Shinney.  According  to  Brockett,  shinney  is  the  stick 
with  a  crooked  or  round  end  with  which  the  game  of 
shinney,  played  by  our  boys  here,  is  played  in  the 
Northern  counties  of  England. 

Shoat.  In  some  places  a  shot,  a  young  pig  between  a 
sucker  and  a  porker.  It  is  always  a  term  of  contempt 
w^hen  applied  to  a  young  person.  (Wilbraham.)  It 
is  universal,  in  New  England,  in  the  first  sense.  A 
young  shaver,  comes  nearer  the  second,  though  it 
conveys  no  contempt. 

Shoo.  The  interjection  used  in  driving  birds  or  fowls 
from  gardens.  (Hallamshire  Glossary ;  Wilbraham  ; 
Brockett.)  Frequent  here,  in  word  and  deed.  Scheu, 
is  the  German  for  timid ;  scheuchen,  to  frighten ;  but 
it  seems  a  natural  exclamation,  and  no  more  German 
than  shoo,  for  hush.  A  farmer  would  be  astonished 
at  hearing  that  he  was  talking  German,  and  so  would 
the  fowls. 

Shot.  The  score  of  reckoning  at  public  houses.  (Brock- 
ett.) Sometimes,  though  not  often  heard  here. 

Shot  of,  for  freed  from.  (Brockett.)  The  usual 
pronunciation  is  as  spelt  in  the  Hallamshire  Glossary, 
shut.  I  never  heard  the  word  but  in  Chester  County, 
Pennsylvania,  and  there  it  is  common.  The  early  set- 
tlers of  that  county  were  Quakers,  and  most  of  these,  I 


100  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS, 

believe,  from  the  North  of  England.  A  widow,  once 
importuned  by  a  man  whom  she  did  not  care  much 
for,  though  her  worldly  substance  was  too  considera- 
ble to  be  neglected  by  a  prudent  man,  married  him,  as 
she  said,  to  get  sliut  of  him.  They  also  say,  to  get 
shut  of  a  farm,  or  a  horse.  Shot  is  also  the  past  parti- 
ciple of  shut,  or,  as  it  is  written  in  Chaucer,  shette; 
did  you  shette  the  door?  it  was  shot;  who  shot  the 
door  ?  This  way  of  using  shot  and  shette,  for  shut,  is 
common  in  New  England,  and  among  farmers  in  Penn- 
sylvania.    They  have  the  authority  of  Chaucer. 

Shuffle  and  cut.  A  superior  step  in  vulgar  dancing. 
(Brockett.)  And  so  continues;  and  another  step  or 
movement  in  the  same  species  of  dancing,  called  the 
double-shuffle,  is  perhaps,  and  for  all  we  know,  an  im- 
provement on  this  caper  of  our  ancestors. 

Sic-sic.  Said  to  pigs,  when  called  to  the  trough,  by 
those  who  little  think  that  they  are  speaking  pure 
Saxon,  in  which  sic  is  a  pig.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.) 
This  is  very  true;  no  doubt,  when  the  farmers  call 
their  pigs,  it  does  not  enter  their  heads  that  they  are 
addressing  them  in  an  unknown  tongue,  nor  do  the 
pigs  think  so,  though  they  seem  to  understand  it 
with  as  much  facility  as  a  Mormon. 

Sight.  What  a  sight  of  people  !  is  our  expression  ;  the 

•  same  as  the  East  Anglian.  But  we  also  say,  "  a  thing 
is  not  so  by  a  long  sight ;^^  ''you  haven't  hit  it,  or 
guessed  by  a  long  sight.^''    The  derivation  is  obvious. 

SiK,  siK-LiKE,  or  SUCK,  SUCK-LIKE.  (Brockett.)  Our 
people  in  the  country,  once,  no  doubt,  made  use  of 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  101 

sik;  they  have  now  approached  nearer  the  more  re- 
fined word  such,  by  using  sich  and  sich-like.  "I 
never  seed  exactly  sich  a  kind  of  man  afore;"  "I 
guess  there  is  no  good  in  sich-like  sort  of  folks." 

Sit.  To  sit  a  woman  ;  to  keep  company  with  her  ;  to 
court,  or  to  sit  up  with  her  during  the  night.  This, 
according  to  the  Craven  Glossary,  is  the  mode  of  pay- 
ing one's  addresses  in  that  obscure  quarter  of  York- 
shire. They  have  the  same  custom  in  Chester  County, 
Pennsylvania.  To  come  on  a  Sunday  afternoon  and 
stay  till  the  next  morning,  is  the  fashion  there  ;  whe- 
ther it  exists  anywhere  else,  I  do  not  know.  Their 
reason  for  doing  so  is  obvious,  and  a  very  good  one. 
The  incessant  duties  of  the  rest  of  the  week  prevent 
them  from  meeting,  except  on  Sunday.  It  is  their 
day  of  general  worship  at  the  different  shrines.  In 
Tirginia,  and  perhaps  other  Southern  States,  I  am 
told  that  the  slaves  walk  twelve  miles  to  visit  their 
lady-love,  and  this  after  their  usual  work  in  the  fields, 
yet  are  ready  on  the  following  morning  for  their  daily 
tasks. 

Sixes  and  sevens,  in  a  state  of  confusion ;  in  dis- 
order. (Brockett.)  It  is  strange  that  this  should 
be  supposed  peculiar  to  the  North  of  England,  as  it 
is  heard  wherever  English  is  spoken. 

Skillet.  The  utensil,  a  small,  shallow  iron  pot,  with  a 
long  handle,  to  which  we  give  this  name,  is  not  the 
same  as  its  English  relative.  In  Suffolk,  it  is  an  arti- 
cle for  skimming  milk ;  in  Northamptonshire,  a  brass 
kettle,  without  a  lid ;  though,  in  East  Anglia,  it  is  a 
9* 


102  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

pot  of  brass  or  iron,  with  a  long  handle,  and  proba- 
bly the  same  as  ours.  Shakspeare  has  the  word,  and 
Skelton. 

Skinflint,  a  niggardly,  close-fisted  person.  (Brock- 
ett.)  A  character  not  as  common  here  as  in  England, 
though  one  is  called  skinfiint  in  this  country  who 
would  be  thought  generous  anywhere  else. 

Skurry,  for  haste,  impetuosity.  (Brockett.)  I  have 
heard  this  word  in  Pennsylvania,  but  not  in  New 
England,     Hurry -skurry  is  no  unusual  phrase. 

Slab.  The  outside  plank  of  a  piece  of  timber,  when 
sawn  into  boards.  It  is  a  word  of  general  use.  Grose 
gives  this  as  a  North  Country  word ;  Brockett  does 
not  mention  it.  We  believe  it  is  used  in  the  same 
way  here.     A  marble  slab,  is  a  table  of  marble. 

Slack.  A  long  pool  in  a  streamy  river.  (Brockett.) 
This  is  not  very  clearly  expressed,  or  not  clear  on  this 
side  the  Atlantic.  In  rowing  a  boat,  a  man  may  say, 
"I'll  try  and  get  into  slack  water,"  by  which  would  be 
understood  that  he  meant  to  get  out  of  the  current. 
This  may  be  the  meaning  of  Brockett,  and  is  the  only 
application  I  know  in  this  country.  Slack  was  used 
by  the  earliest  writers  for  slow;  slack  water,  would 
be  the  slow  water. 

Slam,  to  push  violently;  to  beat  or  cuff  one.  (Grose 
and  Brockett.)  AVe  say,  don't  slam  the  door,  for 
shutting  it  with  violence;  and,  the  shutter  slammed 
to  with  the  wind;  but  for  beat  or  cuffing,  it  is  un- 
known, I  believe. 

Slammocking,  moving  awkwardly.  (Craven  Glossary.) 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED    AMERICANISMS.  103 

I  have  heard  this  word,  but  its  application  I  forget. 
I  believe,  however,  it  meant  rough,  awkward. 

Slewed.  It  is  very  possible  that  this  is  a  coinage  of 
our  own.  It  means  drunk ;  he  is  confounded  slewed, 
means  very  intoxicated.  It  may  be  from  slide,  as  they 
say  in  New  England  when  a  sleigh  slides,  as  it  is  apt 
to  do  in  going  round  a  corner,  that  it  sleioed  round. 
"  Cocked  "  is  a  synonym. 

Slick  To  say  a  thing  was  done  as  slick  as  grease, 
you  done  that  slick,  were  once  common  in  New  Eng- 
land. Sleeken  is  a  Lancashire  word  for  smooth,  but 
slick  appears  to  have  deserted  England,  and  become 
here  but  a  vulgarism. 

Slink.  From  an  Anglo-Saxon  word,  meaning  to  crawl 
or  creep,  is  common  here ;  as,  he  slinked  away.  Also 
the  substantive;  as,  such  a  person  is  a  slink. 

Slippy,  slippery.  (Brockett.)  The  last  is  the  more 
common  pronunciation,  though  I  have  heard  the 
other.  A  slippery  fellow,  for  one  who  makes  pro- 
mises with  facility,  is  used  here ;  but  slippy,  in  Eng- 
land. 

Slat,  or  slate.  To  slat  on ;  to  dash  against ;  to  cast 
on  anything.  Another  North  Country  word,  accord- 
ing to  Grose,  though  not  in  Brockett.  He  slat  it  on 
the  floor,  for  dashing  down  violently,  is  the  only  ap- 
plication I  know  of  the  word.  Britton  defines  it,  to 
split,  to  crack;  unknown,  I  believe,  among  us  in  this 
sense. 

Slop,  to  spill.     (Hallamshire  Glossary.)     When  one  is 


104  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

carrying  a  pail  full  of  water,  and  it  falls  over  at  the 
sides,  water  is  said  to  dop  over. 

Slope.  This  word  has  become  quite  common,  within  a 
short  time;  but  seems  confined  in  its  application  to 
the  movements  of  persons  of  doubtful  character.  A 
man  formerly  ran  away;  he  now  ''slopes  for  Texas." 
It  comes,  no  doubt,  from  slope,  meaning  an  inclining 
downward ;  as  we  say,  he  has  gone  down  South.  A 
modern  poet  uses  the  word,  though  not  with  our  appli- 
cation. 

"  Did  I  look  on  great  Orion  sloping  slowly  to  the  West," 
has  somewhat  the  meaning  of  slink,  or  sneak,  though 
a  little  higher  in  degree.  A  mean  fellow  does  not 
slope,  but  sneaks  or  slinks  away;  a  scoundrel,  bold 
and  imposing,  is  he  who  slopes.  The  word  was 
heard,  I  believe,  first  when  Texas  became  the  Ameri- 
can Alsatia;  as,  he  sloped  for  Texas,  was  always 
understood  of  one  who  had  cheated  his  creditors, 
plundered  a  bank,  or  robbed  his  employers — a  villain 
of  lofty  and  interesting  dimensions.  When  in  num- 
bers, as  has  been  the  case  more  than  once  in  our 
history,  the  thing  was  well  understood.  Those  who 
sloped,  were  the  rats  of  business ;  the  house  was  fall- 
ing, credit  was  cracked,  and  bankruptcy  near  at  hand. 
Sloping  ceases,  when  men  can  neither  borrow  nor  steal. 
The  word  is  well  used,  preserving  the  proper  meaning 
of  going  down  a  declivity,  though  with  rather  more 
haste  than  it  really  implies. 

Sloshy,  wet  and  dirty.  (Brockett.)  SlosJiy  is  the  New 
England  pronunciation,  or  slushy.     Jameson  defines 


GLOSSARY   OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  105 

slush,  snow  in  a  state  of  liquefaction,  and  derives  it 
from  a  Gothic  word,  slask,  meaning  dirt,  mud. 

Slump.  To  slip  or  fall  plump  down  in  a  wet  or  dirty 
place.  (Grose  and  Brockett.)  This  is  something 
near  our  meaning.  If  a  person  is  walking  in  deep 
snow,  softened  by  the  sun  or  by  rain,  and  falls  in,  he 
would  say  that  he  slumped  through ;  or,  if  the  same 
thing  should  happen  in  dirt,  of  a  sufficiently  soft  and 
thickened  consistency,  the  same  expression  would  be 
used. 

Smash.  A  blow  or  fall  by  which  anything  is  broken. 
(Wilbraham  and  Brockett.)  This  extremely  common 
word  seems  peculiar  to  the  North  of  England.  A 
thing  smashed,  is  broken  to  atoms.  We  also  say  of 
one  entirely  ruined,  that  he's  gone  to  smash. 

Smock,  the  under  linen  of  a  female.  (Brockett.) 
Othello,  after  murdering  Desdemona,  compares  the 
pallor  of  death  to  a  smock;  but  to  have  said,  pale  as 
a  shift,  would  have  given  a  romance  to  that  word 
which  it  now  wants. 

Snacks.  A  Hampshire  and  Sussex  word,  for  shares. 
We  also  say,  let  us  go  snacks,  though  the  expression 
is  not  an  integral  part  of  speech  anywhere,  but  only 
an  occasional  pleasantry.  Snack  is  used  here  for 
luncheon:  let  us  take  a  snack.  Snatch  appears  to 
be  its  original. 

Snag.  To  hew  or  cut  roughly  with  an  ax.  (Brockett.) 
On  the  Western  rivers,  a  snag  is  a  piece  of  timber  or 
a  tree  projecting  so  far  toward  the  surface  of  the 
water  as  to  strike  boats,  and  cause  them  to  sink,  by 


106  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

penetrating  their  bottoms.  In  Tod's  Johnson,  it  is 
defined  as  a  jag,  a  sharp  protuberance.  From  a  sim- 
ple and  meagre  meaning  of  this  sort,  it  has  extended 
itself  to  a  broader  sense.  But  it  is  curious  that  it 
should  be  in  use  nowhere  else  in  this  country  but  in 
the  West.  In  some  parts  of  England,  anag  means  a 
giiarl  or  knob  on  a  tree,  also  a  tooth,  and  snagging  is 
lopping  or  cutting. 

Snead,  for  the  sole  of  a  scythe,  is  heard  among  farmers. 
It  is  an  Anglo-Saxon  word,  and  still  heard  in  Eng- 
land. 

Sneak  away.  Means  the  same  as  slink ;  and  to  say  a 
person  is  a  sneak,  means  a  mean  fellow,  but  has  no 
locomotion  in  it. 

Snivel,  sneavel.  To  speak  through  the  nose,  to  snuff. 
(Brockett.)  AVhen  one  has  a  cold,  and  draws  his 
breath  through  his  nose,  the  act  or  the  noise  produced 
thereby  is  called  sniveling,  or  sniffling.  Tod's  John- 
son has  a  meaning  very  near  ours. 

Snob.  A  common  name  for  a  cobbler.  (Brockett.) 
In  this  sense,  unknown  among  us,  the  word  cobbler 
being  wholly  disused.  Shoemaker  includes  the  whole 
species  of  makers  and  menders  of  shoes.  At  one  of 
the  English  universities,  a  snob  is  a  boy  who  runs 
errands  for  the  students.  We  have  imported  the 
word,  and  apply  it  to  a  vulgar  person  who  sets  up 
pretensions. 

Snot.  A  contemptuous  epithet  for  a  useless,  insignifi- 
cant fellow.  (Brockett.)  Never  heard  among  us,  I 
believe,  in  this  signification ;  but  for  the  mucus  nasi, 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  107 

from  the  Saxon  sjiote,  among  vulgar  people,  it  is  the 
common  expression. 

Snort,  to  laugh  outright.  (Brockett.)  When  one  bursts 
into  a  hearty,  unrestrained  laugh,  it  is  said  of  him, 
that  he  regularly  snorted.  This  is  merely  a  colloquial 
vulgarism,  and  the  word  is  generally  appropriated  to 
a  horse  blowing  his  nose. 

SoA,  for  he  quiet.  This  has  dropped  from  the  human 
race  to  cows,  and  soa-mooley,  may  be  heard  at  every 
milking.  It  is  not  used  to  oxen  or  horses.  Whether 
mooley  comes  from  mulier,  I  leave  to  the  learned. 

Soft,  for  silly,  simple,  foolish.  (Brockett.)  A  soft 
sort  of  a  fellow,  is  no  unusual  variety  of  our  species 
even  here. 

Son  of  a  gun.  Implying  one  irregular  or  not  to  be  de- 
pended upon  in  keeping  engagements.  "Er  so  aen 
afer  gaen,"  there  and  then  off,  is  Ker's  derivation ;  and 
to  "as  sure  as  a  gun,"  he  gives  a  Dutch  origin.  "Was 
that  so  V  "Ay,  as  sure  as  a  gun.^''  "  Als  sij  ure  haest 
er  gaen,"  as  the  hour  that  has  just  passed  by,  can  be. 

Sour  milk,  butter-milk.  (Brockett.)  Sour  milk, 
with  us,  is  milk  soured  by  long-standing,  or  by  a 
thunder-storm.  With  boys  who  were  fond  of  it — a 
quantity  of  sugar  being  added  to  render  it  palatable — 
it  had  another  name,  honny-clahber,  or,  as  the  young 
gentlemen  always  insisted  it  should  be  spelt,  "baugh- 
naugh-claugh-baugh."  Tod's  Johnson  calls  it  an  Irish 
word. 

Souse.  A  dish  made  of  the  ears,  feet,  etc.  of  swine.  (Hal- 
lamshire   Glossary.)     The  dish  is  common  in  New 


108  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

England,  but  it  always  means  those  articles  in  a 
pickle. 

Spanghew,  to  iliroici  with  violence.  (Brockett.)  We 
introduce  this  word  merely  to  bring  forward  another. 
I  know  of  no  such  word,  but  we  have  one,  spank,  to 
slap,  that  I  do  not  find  anywhere.  It  means  a  beat- 
ing with  the  palm  of  the  hand,  in  the  way  and  mode 
practiced  by  mothers  on  their  children.  "  He  got  such 
a  spanking P''  "Charles,  Charles!  don't  do  that,  or 
I'll  spank  you."  Moor  gives  this  word  as  in  use  in 
Suffolk,  in  the  sense  of  slap,  more  especially  in  the 
maternal  mode.  I  think  I  have  heard  spanking  ap- 
plied to  horses,  also  slapping  ;  as,  a  pair  of  spanking 
big  blacks,  or  slapping  grays.  It  means  something 
gay,  spirited.  Bailey  has  spank,  and  derives  it  from 
a  Saxon  word;  Britton  has  spankey,  showy;  and 
Forby,  spanking,  conspicuous,  showy. 

Spell.  This  word  is  used  in  two  ways  in  New  Eng- 
land. We  hear  of  a  bad  spell  of  weather ;  never,  I 
believe,  of  a  pleasant  spell;  and  also,  "come,  you  try 
it  a  spell.^''  The  first  seems  peculiar;  the  last  Hol- 
loway  gives  as  a  Sussex  and  Hampshire  phrase. 
Junius  calls  it  a  nautical  term,  and  derives  it  from  an 
Anglo-Saxon  word,  meaning  a  turn  of  work.  This 
appears  the  probable  origin,  as  we  use  turn  in  a 
similar  sense,  as,  "he  has  had  a  bad  turn,''^  used  in 
illness. 

Spick-and-span-new.  Those  who  are  curious  as  to  the 
origin  of  this  word,  will  find  it  fully  "attempted,"  we 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  109 

will  not  say  "  made  out,"  in  Tod's  Johnson.     Cliaucer 
has  span-new  J  as — 

"Tliis  tale  was  aie  sjuin-neic  to  beginne." 

Spill,  a  quantity.  There  was  a  good  spill  of  apples 
this  year.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  In  New  Eng- 
land they  use  spell,  though  not  exactly  in  the  same 
way,  yet  approaching  it :  we  shall  have  a  long  spell 
of  bad  weather ;  he  was  confined  to  the  house  a  spell; 
he  had  a  bad  spell  of  sickness.  Whence  it  comes,  we 
know  not.  There  is  a  Dutch  and  German  word,  spil, 
and  spiel,  a  game ;  also,  a  Dutch  word,  spell,  a  pivot 
or  hinge ;  but  this  meaning  is  not  analagous  to  that 
we  give  the  word.  Spill  and  spell  appear  the  same 
in  origin. 

Splash.  This  word,  besides  being  used  for  throwing 
water  about,  dirty  water  too,  in  some  places  has  a 
more  superb  application.  To  cut  a  splash,  was  for- 
merly said  of  one  who,  by  dress  or  equipage,  endea- 
vored to  make  himself  very  eminent.  To  cut  a  dash, 
is  a  synonym.  We  took  it  from  our  English  ancestors 
of  Hampshire  and  Sussex. 

Spree,  sport,  merriment,  a  frolic.  '(Brockett.)  This 
has  some  slight  existence  among  us.  It  was  imported 
with  "Tom  and  Jerry,"  and  is  continued  by  the 
patrons  of  that  firm. 

Sprey,  spruce,  ingenious.     Grose  takes  this  from  the 

Exmoor  Dialect.     Jennings  defines  it  nimble,  active, 

which  is  the  common  and  only  way  in  which  it  is  used 

in  New  England.     "  Come,  be  spry,''^  a  Yankee  will 

10 


110  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

say  to  one  whom  lie  wislies  to  urge  to  haste.  He  was 
the  "  spriest  chap  ever  I  see,"  means  one  who  could  run 
or  leap,  or  was  in  other  ways  more  than  usually 
active. 

Spunk,  mettle,  spirit,  vivacity.  (Brockett.)  This  and 
spunky  are  both  in  common  use  in  the  sense  of  spirit 
and  spirited.  Forby  defines  spunky,  brisk,  mettle- 
some. 

Squat.  To  bruise,  or  make  flat  by  letting  fall ;  said  by 
Grose  to  be  used  in  the  South  of  England.  It  is  fre- 
quent in  New  England,  though  not  confined  to  a  thing 
let  fall;  as,  his  hat  was  all  squat  in;  his  trunk  was 
squat  in;  in  the  sense  of  pressed  upon.  An  old  word. 
Moor  gives  squat,  as  meaning  to  settle ;  in  Suffolk,  a 
squatter  is,  then,  a  settler ;  but  we,  though  no  doubt 
taking  the  word  from  that  county,  always  use  it  in  a 
bad  sense.  Its  meaning  with  us  is,  to  occupy  another's 
land. 

Squirm.  To  wriggle  and  twist  about  briskly,  after  the 
manner  of  an  eel;  it  is  usually  spoken  of  that  fish. 
We  have  extended  the  application  of  this  word, 
which  Grose  mentions  as  peculiar  to  the  South  of 
England.  The  signification  includes  the  one  above, 
though  modified  by  circumstances.  We  do  not  say  an 
eel,  or  any  other  animal,  squirms,  (for  we  apply  it  to 
all  living  things,)  unless  we  mean  also  in  agony.  See 
that  poor  creature  squirming ;  or,  how  it  squirms, 
would  mean  that  it  was  writhing  in  torture.  To  a 
movement  brisk  and  lively  with  pleasure,  I  have  never 
heard  it  applied. 


GLOSSARY    OF   SUPPOSED    AMERICxVNISMS.  Ill 

Stalled.  An  animal  is  said  to  be  stalled,  who  sticks 
in  the  mud.  Marshall  has  it  as  a  word  in  use  in  the 
Midland  Counties,  but  I  find  it  nowhere  else.  It  is 
frequent  here. 

Stand.  Forby  defines  this,  to  behoove,  to  concern,  to 
interest;  as,  "it  stands  you  in  hand  to  look  to  that." 
This  may  be  heard  in  New  England,  and  also  the 
Yankee  expression,  such  a  thing  wall  stand  you  in  so 
much,  meaning  that  it  will  cost  him  a  certain  sum. 

Stang,  a  long  bar;  a  wooden  pole.  (Brockett.)  Riding 
the  stang,  a  punishment  among  the  vulgar.  From  the 
account  given  by  this  gentleman,  this  punishment  is 
the  same  as  one  known  in  New  England  as  riding  the 
rail ;  it  also  seems  to  be  applied  to  the  same  cases. 
These  are  generally  of  a  nature  which  the  law  could 
not  reach ;  very  offensive  to  the  morals  of  small  com- 
munities, though  practiced  in  large  ones  without 
notice  or  rebuke.  The  word  stang,  I  have  never 
heard.  Riding  the  rail  was  lately  applied  to  a  cap- 
tain of  militia,  in  Kensington,  by  his  men,  for  appear- 
ing on  parade  intoxicated. 

Stark,  stiff,  rigid.  Used  for  the  state  of  the  body 
after  excessive  fatigue  ;  also  as  a  superlative,  as  starh 
blind.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  Asa  superlative,  in 
the  expression,  starh  staring  mad,  I  have  heard  this 
word  very  often,  but  in  no  other  way. 

Steeple.     Invariably  means  a  spire.     (Jennings.)     I 

.  have  seldom  heard  the  word  spire  in  this  country,  and 
in  England  I  never  heard  steeple.  The  steep)le  of  the 
meeting-house,   is  universal    in   New  England.     A 


112  dLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

"steeple  chase"  shows  that  the  word  is  known  in 
England. 

Stew.  In  a  sad  dew,  in  a  state  of  great  perplexity. 
(Brockett.)     Common  here,  in  this  sense. 

Stone-de^U),  for  quite  dead;  dead  as  a  stone.  (Brit- 
ton.)     A  word  in  frequent  use  among  us. 

Stoop,  or  stoavp,  a  post,  fastened  in  the  earth.  (Brock- 
ett.) In  Pennsylvania,  a  stoop  is  a  porch  with  a  bench 
on  each  side,  where  the  summer  evenings  may  be 
passed  in  smoking  and  talking  at  will.  It  was  brought 
here  from  Holland  or  Germany. 

Store.  It  is  rather  strange  that  the  way  in  which  the 
word  is  sometimes  used  in  New  England  is  not  given 
in  any  of  the  glossaries.  We  say,  everywhere  in  this 
country,  a  store  instead  of  a  shop,  the  only  word  em- 
ployed in  England  ;  but  they  also  say,  in  New  Eng- 
land, "I  set  no  store  by  it,"  i.e.  I  do  not  value  it.  An 
expression,  to  tell  no  store,  may  be  found  in  Chaucer, 
of  precisely  a  similar  meaning  to  that  of  New  Eng- 
land. Tod's  Johnson,  generally  so  full,  has  not 
noticed  it.  Hollo  way  has  stoar,  value,  used  in  the 
North  of  England.  Cromwell  uses  the  word  in  one 
of  his  letters:  *'A  great  store  of  great  artillery." 

Strapping  tall,  strapper,  a  large  man  or  luoman. 
(Brockett.)  Both  are  common  here.  He's  a  straj)- 
ping  big  fellow,  and,  what  a  strapper,  are  frequent. 

Stripper.  Applied  here  to  cows  nearly  dry.  A  word, 
of  the  same  meaning  and  origin,  strapper,  is  used  in 
the  North  of  England. 

Stub.     He  stubbed  his  foot.     I  know  of  no  authority 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED    AMERICANISMS.  113 

for  this.     In  the  sense  of  short  and  thick,  we  have  it 
still,  from  old  authority : — 

"Than  Margery  Mylkeducke 
Her  hyrtill  did  up  take, 
An  ynche  above  lier  kne, 
Her  legges  that  ye  myght  se ; 
But  they  were  sturdy  and  stubbed.^'' — Skelton. 

Sty.  a  troublesome  and  painful  swelling  on  the  eye- 
lid. (Brockett.)  This  disease,  and  the  mode  of  cure 
mentioned  by  Brockett,  are  both  well  known  in  Xew 
England.  He  says  that  a  wedding-ring  must  be  ap- 
plied to  it,  and  repeated  nine  times.  Excepting  this 
last  condition,  of  which  I  remember  nothing,  the  rest 
was  always  recommended. 

Sure  as  a  gun,  absolutely  certain.  (Brockett.)  A 
common  colloquial  comparison. 

Swap.  Several  authorities  can  be  found  for  this  word, 
and  in  the  same  sense  in  which  we  use  it. 

Soft,  I'll  not  sicojp  my  father  for  all  this, 

Lilly's  Mother  Bombie. 

SwEY,  to  poise,  to  swing.  (Brockett.)  To  swey  from 
side  to  side,  as  a  carriage  or  chaise,  is  a  frequent 
phrase. 

Swingle-tree.  A  movable  piece  of  wood,  to  which  the 
traces  of  husbandry-horses  are  fastened.  (Brockett.) 
We  use  it  also  for  the  pieces  of  wood  to  which  the 
traces  are  fastened  to  carriages.  Jamison  derives  it 
from  a  Teutonic  word,  swinghel  en,  to  move  back- 
ward and  forward. 

Smotjcb:,  to  salute.  An  old  word.  (Brockett.)  "Salute" 
10* 


114  GLOSSARY  OP   SUPPOSED,  AMERICANISMS. 

does  not  mean  here  bowing  or  taking  off  the  hat.  But 
it  conceals  the  meaning  of  smouch,  which  is  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a  strong  term  for  a  gentle  perform- 
ance, namely,  to  kiss ;  or,  as  this  is  reserved  for  refined 
society,  it  implies  rather  the  hearty  smack  of  low  life, 
or  a  buss,  in  which  conventional  restraints  are  lost. 
We  have,  I  believe,  wholly  thrown  aside  this  significa- 
tion, not,  however, the  act;  and  a  smouch,  or  smooch, 
is,  with  New  England  people,  a  dirty  mark  along  the 
cheek,  as  a  smooch  of  paint,  or  ink,  or  charcoal — a 
sad  let  down  from  the  old  luxury.  Tod's  Johnson 
has  smutch,  to  dirty  with  soot  or  coal ;  no  doubt  the 
same. 
Swop,  to  exchange.  I  take  this  from  a  Vocabulary  of 
Lancashire  Words.  Britton  has  it  also,  among  his 
Wiltshire  Words.  Jamison  derives  it  from  an  Ice- 
landic word.  It  is  in  "Chevy  Chase,"  and  there 
means  to  exchange  blows. 

At  last  the  Douglas  and  the  Perse  met 
Lyk  to  captayns  of  myght  aud  mayne; 
The  sicapte  together  tyll  the  both  swat 
With  wondes  that  wear  of  fyn  myllan. 

Percy's  Reliques. 

In  the  ballad  of  the  "Battle  of  Otterbourne,"  there 
is  the  same  word.  To  swap  horses,  or  anything  else, 
is  a  very  common  expression  in  New  England,  but  I 
have  never  heard  it  out  of  New  England. 


GLOSSARY  OF   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS.  115 


Take  on,  to  grieve.  He  took  on  terrible  bad,  for  being 
depressed  by  misfortune  or  loss  of  friends,  is  common 
in  New  England.  I  have  not  met  with  it  in  any  of 
the  glossaries,  yet  it  must  have  been  in  use  two  or 
three  centuries  ago,  as  it  is  in  Middleton's  "Michael- 
mas Time:" — 

''Take  on  for  my  gold,  my  land,  and  my  writings;  grow 
worse  and  worse;  call  upon  the  devil,  and  so  make  an  end;" 

and  in  Beaumont  and  Fletcher's  "Scornful  Lady  :"— 
"Alas,  good  soul,  she  cries  and  takes  on!" 

Tarry,  to  stop,  to  stay.  Won't  you  tarry  awhile  longer? 
Get  off  your  horse,  and  tarry  with  us.  This  is  an 
old  and  good  word,  of  frequent  use  in  Scripture  and 
in  Shakspeare.  The  first  scene  in  "  Troilus  and  Cres- 
sida"  has  it  six  times.  The  Persians  have  a  word, 
tarir,  that  means  tarrying. 

Tatee,  for  j^otuto.  (Brockett.)  It  is  not  often  heard, 
though  tate7^s,  is  common.  They  so  call  them  in  Suf- 
folk, England. 

Thick,  for  intimate.  (Brockett.)  They  are  quite  thick, 
is  a  frequent  phrase. 

Thingumbobs,  nameless  trifles.  Thingumbob  is  also 
a  vulgar  substitute  for  a  person's  name,  when  it  is  not 
immediately  recollected.  (Brockett.)  In  the  latter 
way  this  is  found  very  useful,  and  commonly  applied; 
but  it  is  not  so  frequent  in  the  first  sense. 


116  GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED  AMERICANISMS. 

Tippy,  smart,  fine.  (Brockett.)  That's  the  tippy!  was 
a  boy's  note  of  admiration  for  anything  more  than 
usually  fine. 

To,  shut,  close.  (Brockett,  who  brings  it  from  the 
Dutch.)     Shut  that  door  to,  means  to  close  it  tight. 

To  DO,  bustle,  confusion.  (Jennings.)  Here's  a  to  do! 
would  be  the  exclamation  of  some  dame,  on  finding 
that  during  her  absence  her  things  were  pulled  about 
and  the  children  squalling. 

Toddle,  to  ivalk;  to  saunter  about.  (Brockett.)  This  has 
descended  in  its  application  from  grown  people  to 
children :  the  little  thing  is  just  able  to  toddle. 

To  SQUAT.  This  word  has  a  meaning  peculiar  to  this 
country,  and  very*  significant.  It  means  to  enter  on 
the  lands  of  another  person,  and  establish  yourself, 
and  exercise  all  the  rights  of  a  proprietor.  Our 
government  and  individuals  suffer  from  this  species 
of  robbery.  In  the  wild  and  frontier  portions  of  the 
country,  the  enlightened  citizens  have  a  very  indis- 
tinct idea  of  "meum  and  tuum,"  and  when  once  fairly 
settled,  object  very  much  to  removing.  The  law  and 
writs  of  ejectment  avail  very  little.  These  highway- 
men are  known  as  squatters. 

Top,  good,  excellent.  (Brockett.)  He's  a  tip-top  fellow, 
I  have  heard,  but  not  top  alone,  in  the  sense  of  good. 

ToTHER,  TUTHER,  for  the  otJiev.  (Brockett.)  A  very 
common  vulgarism. 

Touchwood.  Wood  in  a  state  of  extreme  rottenness 
and  decay,  supposed  to  possess  the  property  of  tinder, 


GLOSSARY   OP   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  11 Y 

from  whence  the  name,  as  of  taking:  fire  at  a  touch. 
(Hallamshire  Glossary.)  The  wood  in  this  condition 
is  called,  as  Mr.  Pickering  says,  and  as  I  well  remem- 
ber, everywhere  in  New  England,  punk;  a  corruption, 
no  doubt,  of  spunk — punk  meaning  something  very 
different  from  wood  in  any  state.  When  we  found  it 
in  the  woods,  we  carried  it  home,  and  rubbed  pieces 
of  it  together  in  the  dark,  when  it  gives  a  kind  of 
phosphorescent  light. 

To  VAY,  to  succeed;  to  turn  out  well;  to  go.  This  word 
is  most  probably  derived  from  the  French  alter,  to  go. 
It  don't  vay,  that  is,  it  does  not  go  on  well.  (Jen- 
nings.) In  New  England  they  have  a  word,  to  fay, 
to  fit :  that  fays  nicely.  Is  it  possible  that  it  comes 
from  vay?  To  fay,  in  Tod's  Johnson,  is  altogether 
a  different  word.  Bailey  has,  to  fey,  to  do  anything 
notably,  and  Hollo  way  gives  a  phrase,  it  feys  well, 
as  common  in  Hampshire,  for  "the  thing  answers." 
This  is  our  word  and  application,  and  comes  proba- 
bly from  faire. 

Towards.  Is  in  Somersetshire  invariably  pronounced 
as  a  dissyllable,  with  the  accent  on  the  last  syllable. 
(Jennings.)  It  is  also  so  pronounced  in  New  Eng- 
land, among  those  whom  propriety  and  polish  have 
not  spoiled. 

Transmogrified,  transformed;  metamorphosed. 
(Brockett.)  It  is  heard,  but  only  as  a  burlesque  word, 
never  seriously. 

^RiQ,\i.Y,{ova7^tful,  cunning.  (Brockett.)  Yery  common 
here. 


118  GLOSSARY    OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

Trim,  to  heat  soundly.  (Brockett.)  To  trim  his  jacket; 
or,  he  got  such  a  trimming,  are  both  common. 

Trounce.  To  punish  by  means  of  the  law.  (Britton.) 
To  trounce  one,  or,  to  get  a  trouncing,  implies  physi- 
cal suffering,  not  legal,  with  us. 

TussEL,  or  TUSSLE,  «  Struggle  or  contest.  (Brockett.) 
I  had  such  a  tussle  with  him.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.) 
The  word  is  common,  though  tustle  does  not  imply  a 
violent  contest  or  fight. 

Twitter,  to  tremble;  a  teut;  tittern.  (Grose,  who 
says  it  is  a  word  in  general  use.)  It  is  also  in  Brock- 
ett, who  derives  it  from  the  German  zittern.  I  am  all 
of  a  twitter,  I  have  heard  as  a  burlesque  expression, 
but  it  is  no  way  in  general  use.  It  is  used  in  Hamp- 
shire and  Sussex,  England.  Gray  has  hallowed  it, 
and — 

"The  swallow,  twitterinf)  from  liis  straw-built  shed," 

has  relieved  it  from  vulgarity. 


YuRDER,  VURDEST,  for  farther,  farthest.  (Jennings.) 
One  hears,  in  New  England,  furder,  furdest. 

YoYAGE.  We  may  hear  this  word  pronounced,  in  New 
England,  vige :  he's  gone  a  vige.  I  do  not  see  it,  in 
any  of  the  glossaries,  so  corrupted,  but  it  seems  an 
old  mode.  In  Peel's  "  Sir  Clymon  and  Sir  Clamy- 
des,"  who  wrote  in  the  sixteenth  century,  there  is  this 
line : — 

**And  afterwards  having  met  our  vige.'" 


GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  119 

Micldleton  has  it  in  his  "Roaring  Girl,"  and  Chaucer. 
The  word  was  once  spelt  "viage." 


w. 


Wallopping,  a  slatternly  manner.  (Grose.)  In  this 
sense  I  have  never  heard  this  word  used.  Jennings  and 
Brockett  have  wallup,  to  beat,  which  was  a  very  com- 
mon expression  in  New  England.  To  get  wolliipped, 
or,  to  get  a  loolluppiJig,  were  both  frequent  a  score 
of  years  ago.  There  was,  however,  another  use  of 
this  word,  that  I  have  heard  very  often  without  know- 
ing at  the  time  what  was  its  application,  nor  do  I  now 
know.  Pot  was  a  prefix,  and  to  call  one  a  pot-wol- 
lupper,  was  quite  common.  Tod's  Johnson  defines 
wallup/io  boil ;  thence  it  attached  to  persons  or  to  per- 
sonal character,  and  a  hot,  hasty  person  might  be  said 
to  wallup,  as  we  say,  to  boil  with  indignation,  and 
from  this  we  may  have  wollopper.  But  whence 
comes  the  pot?  Grose  has  a  word,  walling,  which  he 
says  is  in  frequent  use  among  the  salt-boilers  at 
Northwich,  and  two  towns  in  Cheshire,  where  there 
are  salt-works.  "Perhaps,"  he  says,  "this  may  be 
the  same  as  wallopjring,  whence  in  some  boroughs 
persons  who  boil  a  pot  there  are  called  pjot-ioollopers, 
and  entitled  to  vote  for  representatives  in  Parliament.'' 
We  have  here,  very  distinctly,  the  origin  of  pjot-wol- 
lopers  in  England,  but  why  it  was  brought  to  this 
country,  or  what  it  meant  when  used  in  this  country, 


120  GLOSSARY   OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 

I  am  at  a  loss  to  say.  There  was  something  like  ad- 
miration in  the  application;  I  am  quite  confident, 
though  a  burlesque,  there  was  no  contempt  in  it. 

Wax.  a  lad  of  icax,  is  a  clever,  promising  child,  but 
never  used  except  where  something  of  the  ludicrous  is 
intended.  (Hallamshire  Glossary.)  I  have  heard  this 
expression,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  mean  anything  in 
particular.  What  it  once  meant,  it  is  not  easy  to  say. 
In  some  parts  of  England,  wax  is  still  used  for  to 
groiv;  and  a  half-waxed  lad,  is  one  half- grown. 
Whether  a  lad  of  ivax  means  one  arrived  at  full 
height,  I  cannot  say. 

Weddiner.  In  the  County  of  Chester,  Pennsylvania,  I 
have  heard  this  word  applied  to  a  luedding  party. 
Whether  it  includes  the  groomsmen  and  bridesmaids, 
I  cannot  say.  It  is  a  most  satisfactory  and  compre- 
hensive epithet,  and  should  be  adopted  into  general 
use.  In  some  parts  of  England  they  coin  a  word  in 
a  similar  way;  one  who  attends  meeting,  or  a  dis- 
senter, is  called  a  meetiner.  I  find  it  in  the  Craven 
Glossary.  Weddiners  is  in  a  poem,  by  John  Stagg, 
written  in  the  Cumberland  dialect : — 

"The  priest  was  re.ady,  waitin, 
The  weddiiiers  just  took  gluts  a  piece, 
Wheyle  he  his  buik  was  laitin." 

Whack,  a  loud  bloiv;  whop,  a  heavy  blow.  To  whack, 
to  whop,  both  in  the  sense  of,  to  beat  with  violence, 
as  given  by  Jennings,  are  heard  here,  though  jocu- 
larly. Whale,  for  beat,  from  a  Saxon  word,  luallan, 
to  weal ;  confined  to  Yorkshire.    To  be  tongue-whaled, 


GLOSSARY    OF    SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS.  121 

is  an  expressive  term,  in  the  North  of  England,  for 
a  severe  scolding ;  also  tongue-banged. 

Whapper,  anything  large;  a  thumper.  (Grose  and 
Brockett.)  We  say  of  a  tale  that  appears  somewhat 
doubtful,  that's  a  whapper ;  it  is,  however,  only  used 
playfully.  A  large  child,  also,  would  be  called  a 
whapper.  Wapping  is  an  old  word,  according  to  the 
Hallamshire  Glossary,  and  is  used  by  us. 

Whippersnapper,  a  diminutive,  insignificant  person. 
(Brockett.)  Whenever  heard  among  us,  it  is  in  the 
last  sense. 

Whittle,  a  knife.  (Grose.)  Generally  a  clasp-knife. 
(Brockett.)  As  a  verb,  the  Hallamshire  Glossary  has 
ichittle,  to  cut  the  bark  from  a  switch  with  a  knife. 
It  is  used  in  the  country  here  for  any  kind  of  cutting. 
To  ivhittle  a  stick,  is  to  cut  it  without  any  particular 
design.  The  restlessness  of  a  Yankee  keeps  him  al- 
ways in  action,  and  as  you  pass  an  inn  you  will  observe 
the  larger  portion  of  those  in  sight  are  whittling,  if  they 
have  no  other  occupation.  It  is  a  word  that  English 
travelers  have  twitted  us  about,  but  its  pedigree  is 
evidently  a  good  one. 

WiSHYWASHY,  for  pooT-looMng,  weak;  not  to  the  point. 
(Brockett.)  InefiQcient,  without  energy,  is  nearer  our 
application  of  the  word ;  as  defined  by  Jennings,  ac- 
tive, nimble,  sharp,  I  have  never  heard  it. 

Wittle.     In  Wiltshire  they  have  swittle. 

WoNST,  for  once.     Common  here. 


11 


122  GLOSSARY    OF   SUPPOSED   AMERICANISMS. 


ADDENDA. 


Clever.  In  this  country  this  word  is  applied  exclu- 
sively to  moral  qualities :  a  clever  fellow,  meaning 
a  good-tempered  person.  In  England  it  is  used  for 
the  intellectual,  except  in  Norfolk,  where  the  same 
meaning  as  that  we  give  to  it  is  employed. 


THE   END. 


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